


The Parting Glass

by Sekrap



Series: Dimension Reinvention [1]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: A little bit of Evo, Angst, Area 77, Backstory, Civil War (briefly), Creeper Doc, Grief/Mourning, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Lore - Freeform, Minor Body Horror, Missing Persons, Mostly Season 6 tho, NHO, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Canon Compliancy, Tags May Change, The Infinity Portal, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Voidkind Xisuma, Watcher Grian, Worldbuilding, You'll see what I mean, season 5, season 6, the Jungle, with a lot of references to season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 62,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24198208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sekrap/pseuds/Sekrap
Summary: Doc has been trying to forget. He has done everything everyone told him he should do to make the memories go away. And still the jungle calls for him.While this is the third book I've written for this installment, it takes place before Trickster and ~Family Issues~! This one by far is least compliant to how Season 5 (and 4,3,2) happened, so if that's not your cup of tea, I so apologize. I hope that everyone enjoys :)
Series: Dimension Reinvention [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686619
Comments: 421
Kudos: 348





	1. Prolouge Part One

**Author's Note:**

> A little Prolouge to catch everyone up to speed in exactly what goes on in this universe. It starts out slow but I promise everything picks up very fast. Enjoy reading and have a lovely day, stay safe!

The room was poorly lit and dirty. It was his own damn fault, but it was frustrating nonetheless. Etho was still struggling to wrap his head around exactly what he was doing, what he and his friends had decided was the ‘right’ thing to do as his heart pounded in his ears and the smell of the jungle filled the room even if it was tucked away from the reaching green branches.

“Are we sure it’s…” Bdubs swallowed, handing Etho another iron ingot.

“No, we’re not, but we’re already committed I guess.” Growled Etho, layering down the hot piece of iron and working it into place with the flat side of his sword. “This would be _so_ much easier if we did this on the mainland- why don’t we just call Xisuma? I mean- why are we even doing this- performing surgery on a _creeper_ of all things.”

“It was in pain!” Beef complained from the head of the table.

“Yeah, we’ve seen a lot of creepers in pain, but we never decided to perform surgery on one!”

Handing over another piece of iron, Bdubs felt his leg begin bouncing as Etho completed the final stretch. He scowled at his two friends bickering but managed to watch with a disgusting sense of wonder as Etho twisted small track of wool laced with redstone into place. This was beyond the normal redstone Bdubs had seen the man, among other Hermits, perform, and he was kind of shocked that this last-ditch effort to save the creeper that had tried to kill them was working. “We’re already in this deep! I mean, we’re the NHO, we don’t back down!”

You see, exactly what happened is hard to tell, because the moment had been full of adrenaline and fear, but it was certainly the most insane thing any Hermit had ever chosen to do.

While working on a build of their new society, the beautiful thing that was the NHO Jungle Base, the three had heard the familiar hiss of a creeper. Like most encounters, it was only a moment to late, the hiss growing with a crescendo before ending with the rattle of an explosion. What the three humans were quick to realize, is that the explosion that would usually kill a man had only threw them up in the air. When the turned to inspect the damage, they saw only a small hole with a very mangled creeper laying inside. The thing was still alive, even though in it’s state it wouldn’t have been much longer. When Beef stepped forwards with his sword, Bdubs grabbed his arm. That was the stupid part.

The absolutely insane part was carrying the creeper (a creeper! An actual creeper! Beef didn’t realize just how big they were until he was carrying one) inside, laying it on a table, and letting Etho work his redstone magic.

Once the worst of the thing’s wounds were patched up, the three men collapsed against the wall and looked at it’s still form laid out on the table in front of them.

“So,” Etho grunted, peeling off his gloves to rub at his eyes. “who wants to check and see if that thing is still alive?”

“Can creepers explode twice?” Beef asked.

“Do they have circulatory systems?” Added Bdubs.

“Oh my god,” Etho groaned into his hands, smacking his head back against the wall. “I just performed surgery on a creeper. It’s missing half a face, doesn’t have an arm, one of it’s legs is toast, why don’t we just kill it already?”

“That would be cruel.” Beef said, very sure of himself.

Standing from his spot against the wall, Bdubs hesitantly shifted closer to the monster on the table. The left side of it’s face was screwed up in messy hatches of stitches, it’s right shoulder stabilized by a large ring of iron that prevented the chest cavity from collapsing, it’s leg twisted oh so painfully, it’s form still as if dead. With a deep frown, Bdubs looked at Etho. “I mean, is there anyway you could make like… prosthetics?”

“Prosthetics?” Etho echoed, eyes big.

“That would be so cool,” Said Beef, getting to his feet too. “Come on Etho, think about it! How cool it would be? Imagine going back to the mainland and telling everyone how- even while living the right way, the hard way- you’re _still_ a better redstoner than them.”

“That would be pretty cool.” Etho admitted, raising an eyebrow at the creeper on the table. “I’d need a lot of iron. And redstone.”

“I’ll get to work!” Beef grinned, quickly disappearing into the group’s strip mine. Bdubs went outside to check their crops and that meant that Etho was left with the creeper, finally standing up himself and walking over to observe the creature when it wasn’t trying to attack him.

Other than the torn-up half of it’s face, the creeper’s head was probably the one part of the creature Etho properly saved. Its limbs were… a sad story, rearranged to make it more humanoid simply in the rush Etho was put under by his friend’s chants of “save it, save it!” Crude scars would grow across the creeper and Etho was afraid to find how much pain it would be in when it woke up. He was scared to reach forwards and check to see if the monster was still alive, but Etho would have to touch it if he were to make it prosthetics to replace its arm, heal its face, and right its mangled leg.

A stack of iron ingots, two stacks of redstone dust, and two pieces of wool later, Etho was almost sure he was going to kill his too best friends and give up on redstone forever. The creeper still hadn’t woken up as Etho attached its arm, patched up its leg, and corrected its eye. The only reason he kept going was because the creature still ran hot, meaning some inner function had to be working. Bdubs held the creeper in a sitting position gingerly, watching patiently as Etho huffed and cursed and grumbled, attaching woolen redstone wires leading from the creeper’s prosthetic arm to the metal that had been installed into his face. In certain places, the metal there reached the creeper’s brain and Etho was hoping then when the creeper thought to itself to move, the redstone would pick up the signal from its brain and send it down to its arm.

Everything was a big ‘if’ as Etho twisted the final wire into place and closed the iron around it, clamping it down. Bdubs laid the creeper back down and scowled at its still form; Beef watching over his shoulder for any sign that it worked. When Bdubs climbed down from the table, Etho picked up the creeper’s new arm. The metal creaked and the plates recalibrated, making the creeper quiver for a moment. Etho bent the thing’s fingers one by one, watching in abstract horror as the redstone signals traveled up the woolen wires and into the creeper’s brain.

And then it shot up, gasping.

The three members of the NHO jumped back and drew their swords. The creeper on the table scrambled back until it fell of the table, movements aborted and jerky and panicked. It started hissing, constant hissing, the inner workings of the red eye Etho had installed as a mirror to his own twisting and flashing. At least it didn’t blow up again, but from what the three humans could guess, it was because the creeper couldn’t anymore.

“Uh, hi?” Etho said, voice small.

The creeper lunged, large black claws unsheathing from its hand and dragging across Etho’s face. The redstoner yelled in pain and wrapped his hands around the wound as Bdubs tried to pull the creeper away from him, Beef rushing to Etho’s aid. The creeper grabbed Bdubs around the neck with its new hand and slammed him into the wall with a hiss, glaring into Bdub’s eyes with such intensity the human felt more scared of the gaze then the hand quickly stealing his oxygen.

Then the creeper’s eyes landed on its metal hand. It dropped Bdubs in its horror and backed away, limping towards the nearest exit.

“Oh geez what have we done.” Beef murmured, watching Xisuma’s Admin magic begin to stich Etho’s face back together even though the Admin was no where to be seen. Etho put a shaking hand to his stinging face and grumbled at the quickly ebbing pain. Bdubs spluttered and rubbed his neck, looking to the door the creeper escaped from as Beef did as well. “We should probably find it, huh?”

Find it they did, the creeper hunched in the sand of the beach, glaring at its reflection in the water. The creature was ceaselessly hissing, claws dragging across the metal on its face and the metal of the new arm. When Bdubs’ foot so much as touched the grass the creeper whipped around, hissing louder than before. It backed up against the water but seemed hesitant to touch it (which Etho was thankful for, because he knew those shabby redstone pieces wouldn’t work if they were exposed to water, not being insulated and such).

Quickly putting up his hands, Bdubs flashed the monster a smile. “Heya there buddy! I’m Bdubs. Beeduuubs. Can you say Bdubs?”

The creeper’s face screwed up in something a whole lot like confusion and it hissed louder still.

“It doesn’t understand you man.” Beef said, confidently striding forwards. He winced when the creeper scrambled to its feet, backed up against the water peacefully lapping at its paws, hissing louder and louder the closer Beef cared to get. “Sorry. Uh,” Beef pointed at himself. “Beef.” He pointed at the creeper. “Creeper.”

“Oh, can we name him? I’d love to name him!” Bdubs pleaded, big eyes full of excitement.

The other members of the NHO chuckled, and the decision was ultimately left to Etho, as he was dubbed the ‘creator’ of whatever ultra-deadly creeper cyborg thing standing before them. “Your name is Doc.” A finger was pointed at the creeper’s chest. “Doc. _Doc_.”

As the sun began to set on the members of the NHO and the thoroughly spooked creeper, the group took reprieve in the fact that the creeper had stopped hissing. ‘Doc’ looked scared and tired and it was kind of funny to see a creeper in that state if you didn’t think about how mean it was. They started a campfire outside since Doc (who they decided was a he) was uncomfortable with being inside whenever they tried to lead him in. He was given plenty of space, mostly because the NHO were scared of the claws they didn’t know creepers had until a few hours before. As the stars begin to fill the night sky, the humans around the fire were chatting happily and eating while the creeper stayed by the water, glaring at his reflection.

“Hey!” Beef called. The creeper turned and hissed, but it was quieter than usual, so the humans took it as a win. Beef held out a piece of, well, beef on a stick that had been sitting over the campfire, waving it in front of the creeper as enticingly as he could. “You hungry buddy?”

Etho and Bdubs held their breath as the creeper slowly left his post at the water and crawled closer. It was hesitant and Beef used his left hand to keep his right arm steady so it’s shaking wouldn’t put Doc off coming closer. Once Doc was five feet away, he got to his feet. He was wobbly without four legs, but Etho’s best guess was the dude liked being tall. At two feet away, Doc leaned closer the best he could on shaky limbs and sniffed at the meat.

The creeper turned up his flat nose and hissed, retreating back to the water.

“No way,” Beef pouted, putting the food on the jungle leaf in front of him.

“Are creepers herbivores?” Bdubs asked, squinting at Doc’s silhouette in the moonlight that was beginning to overtake the beach. “No way. Then why do they go after humans? What else would they eat?”

“Cocoa beans?” Asked Etho, getting to his feet. He walked towards the tree line, reached into the branches of the nearest cocoa tree, and pulled down one of the shells, filled with the bitter beans inside. Letting out a sharp whistle underneath the mask he had made to cover the fresh scars on his face from the muck on the jungle, Etho shook the pod when Doc turned to look. “Hey Doc! Hungry?”

The creeper turned, lips raised to hiss, when his eyes locked on what was in Etho’s hand. “Oh no.” Murmured Bdubs, the two men still by the fire shouting when Doc lunged for Etho for the second time that day, and _wow_ , did that thing move fast when it wanted to.

In a flash, Doc was back by the water, sharp teeth digging into the rough material that made the protective shell around the cocoa beans inside. Etho sat up from where he had been tackled, patting himself down for wounds or claw marks or missing fingers. Finding none, the turned to the rest of the NHO and began laughing. Soon enough, Bdubs and Beef joined in, dragging Etho back to the fire and giggling about taming a creeper over their meal.

Still by the fire, Doc had immersed himself in the cocoa beans. He licked his lips and dragged his claws along the inner shell, scooping anything left out. Only when nothing was left did Doc drop the shell on the beach, cautiously approaching the rowdy men by the fire. Only when Doc was rather close did they notice him, pausing from their loud antics and instead watching the creeper. Getting to his feet again, Doc shuffled closer to Etho, the one who had shown him the food. He sniffed at the white-haired man and scowled when he smelled no more food.

“Hey, uh, Doc,” The man smiled. The sounds he made were weird and Doc didn’t like the grating feeling on his ears. He wanted to hiss but thought better, knowing if he made an enemy of this creature, he wouldn’t get anymore food. A pale, human hand reached out to touch him and Doc took several deep breaths to control himself as the hand landed on top of his head. Doc shook with the effort not to pin this ugly thing down for touching him, but he managed to school himself in the name of cocoa beans. The thing in front of him bared his teeth, flat as they were, and made a strange, happy (?) sounding noise as his fingers wandered across the top of Doc’s head. When the other two tried to join in, Doc finally lost his control.

He hissed and scrambled away, tripping over his strange new body and into the bushes. He looked back at the humans, at the weird orange thing they had made that was so deliciously warm, and retreated into the jungle to find his pack. That was more important than cocoa beans.


	2. Prologue Part Two

The NHO retreated into one of the many small houses Bdubs had made along the river, the fire outside reducing to embers and the beach left empty. As the three of them found comfortable spaces to sleep for the night in the hurriedly constructed house. It was easy enough, and the three found themselves drifting to sleep with the honestly terrifying events of the day playing over in their minds.

They woke to a creeper sprawled out next to the still-dying fire, shivering in the weak morning light. When Bdubs stepped out of the house and saw Doc lying there, he frowned. “Oh. He looks so cold.”

“I’ll see if I can find something he’ll wear.” Said Beef, retreating back inside. When Etho stood on the porch with Bdubs, Doc’s nose twitched and the creeper weakly sat up.

He looked an exhausted as a creeper could, moving slowly and shakily. Etho and Bdubs both gasped when they saw claw marks raking down his chest, Etho running inside for search of potions and Bdubs running towards the trees for a good supply of cocoa beans. Beef and Bdubs came to Doc’s aid first, presenting him with the gift of cocoa beans and now that he was placated, a long, white lab coat to help him warm up.

“Do you think they need… sunlight? Or warmth?” Bdubs asked, watching Doc’s razor-sharp teeth cut through the shell of the cocoa bean pod almost effortlessly even in his dreary state.

“But they come out at night.” Scowled Beef, only looking up when Etho burst out of the cabin with a healing potion in hand. “Maybe it’s because he’s injured? Hey, Doc, buddy, how are you feeling?”

“He doesn’t understand you, guys.” Etho chided, kneeling next to Doc and gently rolling the creeper on his back. Doc’s lip twitched like he was prepared to growl or hiss or attack, but when his nose wiggled (quite adorably, in Bdubs’ opinion) he relaxed under Etho’s hands. Uncorking the healing potion, Etho flicked the jacket out of the way and poured the healing potion onto the rather shallow scratch marks. A loud, pained hiss erupted from the creeper and the three humans flung themselves away in blind panic, watching from behind tree stumps and rocks as the creeper rolled onto his stomach, claws digging into the sand, hissing incessantly. When Etho tried to get closer, the creeper bared its teeth and hissed louder.

“Cool,” Scowled Etho. “Trust lost. Great.”

“Let’s feed him more!” Said Bdubs, always the optimist, quickly moving onto the next tree and cutting down the cocoa bean pods with his axe. Once his arms were full and Doc was letting Etho within five feet of him again, Bdubs toted right back over and let Beef help him carry the creeper food.

“What do you think happened to him?” Beef frowned, putting down his armful next to Etho. Doc did what he did the day before, lunging towards the food now that he was healed, grabbing as many as he could, and darting away again. He bit off the top of a shell and spat it out, using his claws to scrape out the food inside. The humans watched, mostly fascinated, sitting in the sand like they had the night before.

“My best guess?” Responded Etho. “He tried to go back to… I don’t know, other creepers? But since he looks so different, so humanoid, they probably attacked him. So, he came back here because he knows that we feed him.”

“Oh,” Pouted Bdubs. “Well I feel bad now.”

Beef sighed. “At least he’s alive, I guess.”

“Back to work?” Asked Etho, standing up and brushing himself off. “He’ll be occupied with the food for awhile. If last night was indicator, we need to get to work lighting up the jungle.

“Not to mention the other Hermits being meanies.” Bdubs agreed. “I think we should go empty out their stupid fish farms. And watch them… _flounder_ without their precious enchanted books.”

Watching Bdubs snicker at his very bad joke was quite entertaining, but even if his puns were atrocious, Beef found himself nodding. “I wouldn’t mind it. Could be fun. I was thinking about setting up a wall around the jungle today, though. We can go rob the Hermits tomorrow buddy.”

“Okay,” Pouted Bdubs. “I guess I’ll just keep building.”

“I’ll be in the mines. Stay safe you guys.” Etho flashed them a smile before it quickly dropped, realizing he was still hiding the scars over his mouth and nose underneath his mask. He switched for a thumbs-up instead, walking towards the nearest cave system. Bdubs and Beef pushed their boats back into the water and began floating in their respective directions to get their work done, leaving Doc on the sand with his cocoa beans.

When the creeper looked up from his feast, he scowled. The humans had disappeared and left him some space, which he was thankful for, but also confused about. He was naturally meant to hate humans, their destructive ways, but these ones were nice and gave him rare food. Why wouldn’t he befriend them? Sniffing around the campsite, Doc picked up the scent of the shortest one. This one had a loud voice and big eyes and was constantly baring his teeth in a very not nice way, but he was also the only one who hadn’t tried to touch Doc yet, so the creeper followed his scent.

Unfortunately, that trail led right into the water, any creeper’s worst enemy, and Doc was forced to wander along the shore until he found the human. Luckily, the human had also made a wooden path over the water so Doc could easily cross the river and begin searching this shore for the human, slowly getting better at walking on only two legs.

“Oh hey!” Said that loud, cheerful voice, making Doc flinch and hiss on instinct. When he whirled around, there stood the human, hands held out, empty, lips pulled back to show his teeth. “Sorry there, Doc.”

Several times had the creeper heard this word, even though he didn’t understand it. He hissed softly, a sign of recognition, and looked around the building site, the wood littered around the frame of one of the strange things humans seemed so fond of building. His attention was brought back to the short human in front of him when he started speaking again.

“Doc. Doooc. Doc.” Said the human, pointing at the creeper’s chest. Doc narrowed his eyes, glaring at the finger. Bdubs repeated the mantra and Doc put the strange, cold hand on his chest. Something bright and bubbly came from the human. “Yes! Yes! Doc! You are Doc! Dooc. Can you say it? Doc? Doc, Doc, Doc!”

Opening and closing his mouth, the creeper didn’t even know where to start when it came to making that sound. What Bdubs got was a soft “Chk. Dchk. Chhk.”

“Yes!” Squealed the human. “Oh, Etho and Beef won’t _believe_ this! Doc! Do-oooo-ck. Oo. Oooo. Dooooc. Doc! D-oo-c!”

“Dck.” The creeper frowned, patting his chest over and over. “Dck. Dchk. Chhhk. Chuaa- chhh…”

“Doc! Oooo. Dooooc. You can do it buddy. You are Dooooc. Yeah? Say it.” The man was vibrating where he stood and the creeper was beginning to wonder if humans blew up when they got excited. He was pointing at the creeper’s chest every time he said the strange word, teeth bared wide, his cheeks pressing into his eyes. “You can do it buddy. Say it with me. Dooo- Doo- c’mon-”

“Douckt.” The creeper said. The human in front of him exploded, not literally, but jumped into the air and began bounding around, unable to contain himself as more of those happy noises began pouring out of him. Doc hissed happily, pleased with himself.

“Doc! Yes! Your name is Doc. Again! Doc, Doc, Doc!”

“Doct. D- chhhst- Doc.” The creeper struggled, tongue heavy in his mouth. The human screeched, more of that bubbly sound pouring from his lips.

“That’s you! Doc! And- and me!” Bdubs pointed to his chest and Doc followed in suit. “Bee! Bee! Bee-duh-duh-duh-duh-uuubs. Bee-duh-ubs! You can do it!”

“Eee,” Doc replied, sneezing when the sound vibrated in his head. “Br- bah- beeeee.”

“Oh goodness me I am a living god!” Bdubs cheered. “I’m teaching a creeper how to speak! I’m teaching a creeper how to speak! Beee-duhhh-ubs! The full thing Doc! You can do it! Doc, say Bdubs!”

“Dushhh…” Doc shook his head. He pointed to his chest. “Doc.” He pointed to the human. “Beedushubsss.”

“Bdubs.”

“Beeshhhushbss.”

“Bdubs. C’mon Doc, Bdubs!”

“B- sss, Bed-ub- _sssss-_ Bdubs! Bedubs! Bdubs!”

“YES!” The human- the _Bdubs_ screamed, jumping forwards. He hugged the creeper tightly, body shockingly warm. Doc was about ready to shove him away with an angry hiss and find one of the other humans, or maybe some more cocoa beans, but he didn’t realize how _warm_ humans were and melted into the embrace. Maybe he started purring. He wasn’t sure. He could hear the human saying more of those complicated words, voice high and excited. “Oh my goodness. I am holding a purring creeper I taught English. How is this my life. How is this my life.”

When he was pushed back by his shoulders, the creeper frowned, meeting the human’s beaming, very excited face. “You and me are going to go far, buddy. I’ll teach you so much. Doc.”

“Bdubs.” The creeper bared his teeth like the human did, pleased with himself even more when the Bdubs hugged him again.

\----------

The next month or two was full of confusing, happy, strange days as the creeper adapted to human life. English felt weird in his mouth, but overtime, with encouragements from the humans he had learned to call ‘friends’, the creeper that was now Doc was getting a hang of it.

He was in the middle of his daily lesson with Beef. Beef would show him progressively harder and harder words until Doc got frustrated enough and then Etho would lead him into the mines to practice his fine motor functions and his handling of tools with his new hands. Bdubs tried to show Doc how to build houses but the creeper only wanted to make weird statues, including something like looked far too much like a human skull. He was entranced by redstone, that’s for sure, and as he learned more and more English, he happily absorbed the information about his new arm.

“You’re acclimating well.” Beef smiled. Doc frowned at the word, searching in his head for what it may mean. Sometimes, when he thought hard enough, he really thought some of his wires may short circuit. Beef’s smile didn’t waver for a second. “You can do it. Acclimating.”

“Acclimatting. Mating. Acclimating.” Doc grunted, his voice horse around the English words. “J… joining?”

“Sort of!” Beef nodded. “Acclimating- to become accustomed to a climate or new conditions.”

Their lesson was not interrupted by Bdubs throwing himself into the grass and complaining about his aching back after hours and hours of building and terraforming the ridiculously thick jungle the place he _swore_ there were no bushes the day before. It was not interrupted by Etho appearing from the mines, covered in dust and sweat and lugging a heavy bag to show Beef the goodies inside. It was interrupted by the soft sound of paddles slicing through the river Beef and Doc sat upon.

Doc knew the sound of boats well by now, standing up, expecting to see Bdubs. Something a lot like the fire of the explosion waiting inside of him began to burn when the creeper heard unfamiliar voices speaking the English he was determined to master.

“It’s obvious that green looks better.”

“You’re biased! Orange would be more unnatural and fit the theme better.”

“Buuut if we used green concrete dust it could look like fake grass! Come on Ren, use you head.”

“Oh, sorry I’m not Mr. Genius, breaking my cybernetic eye twice this week!”

“Shhhh! We’re getting closer you idiot-”

“What are you two doing here?” Beef snapped, getting to his feet. “This is NHO territory only!”

“Yeah, we were coming to talk to you about that Mr. Beef- whAT IS THAT!?” Shouted the man with one eye. Doc narrowed his and snarled, a sound he had recently learned how to make that sounded a lot more threatening then a measly hiss.

“His name is Doc. Now get out of our jungle!” Beef complained, stepping back, affronted, as this illegal boat parked itself in the sand of the beach.

“We are here to order the NHO to disband and cease all thievery from AFK fish farms and forfeit laundering money from the mining mesa!” Said a man with blue eyes to match Beef’s as he began wrestling himself out of the boat. Doc’s nose flared at the new smells and he let out another growl, getting wary looks from the two new comers. “Seriously what in the Nether is that thing? Is it a creeper?”

“I _said_ his name is Doc, now leave!”

“Not until you agree to our terms!” Said the other one-eyed man. He puffed out his chest, showing off very exaggerated muscles. “Bdubs already knows all about who and what I’m willing to fight in the name of Stress Monster, but just you wait to see who and what I’m willing to fight in the name of La Revolution!”

“La Revolu-what?” Beef mocked, and Doc saw the muscled man who was on _his_ beach in _his_ jungle around _his_ friend draw a diamond sword the humans were so fond of and point it in Beef’s direction.

Colour was all very new to Doc. The world had been grey and white before Etho had given him his prosthetic eye that was able to compute the primary colours and branch off from there. Doc had learned the names of colours first, because they were easy and had good examples, and now the only colour Doc could describe seeing in the landscape in front of him was _red_.

The creeper pounced. He jumped on the man with the sword with all his weight and they both fell to the ground, the harmful sword skidding out of the way. Doc snarled in the human’s face and lifted his natural fist, bringing it down on the human in a sign of anger. He had seen his friends rough housing before and took notes from that, just hitting harder, a _lot_ harder. The human underneath him was shouting and trying to wrestle him off, but Doc knew he was heavy and used it to his advantage as his green fist connected with the blue eyepiece in the human’s head.

A hand clamped down on Doc’s shoulder and the creeper felt all of his senses zero in on the unwelcomed touch. He turned his head and bit into the hand with all of his razor teeth, refusing to let go until the man underneath him kicked him off. Spitting out the mouthful of dirt gained by falling face first into the ground, Doc whirled around to face his two opponents as a lightbulb turned on in his head and he started hissing.

The two humans scrambled for their boat, one’s face red and puffy, the other’s hand mangled. “Xisuma is going to find out about that thing and you’re going to be in trouble Beef!” Said one, the one cradling his hand. Doc only hissed louder as the boat left the sand and quickly sailed down the river.

Only when the boat and its two bloodied passengers were out of sight did Doc stand up properly, turning to face Beef with a big, happy grin. He walked up to the human and began to poke at him, looking for wounds. “They will not hurt.”

“Doc, buddy, oh wow.” Beef stuttered, face almost as red as the beaten man’s. “We were just- we’re all friends here, okay? They would never hurt me. You shouldn’t have- that was.”

“They threatened you with sword.” Doc grunted, stopping in front of Beef with narrowed eyes. These humans were _his_ friends and they had never pointed swords at him. More so, these humans were his pack, and it was a creeper’s duty to protect the pack. He didn’t want the other mean, destructive, loud humans coming too close to his territory and upsetting his pack mates like Beef had clearly been.

“Yeah, but we have respawn. I would have been right back in bed.” Beef sighed, patting Doc’s arm.

The creeper looked at his bloodied fist and looked Beef up and down. It was a new word, so Doc sat down, preparing for his English lessons to start again. “Re… ressspawnd?”


	3. Prologue Part Three

“They left their stupid flags _everywhere!_ ” Squawked Bdubs as his boat turned the corner, sinking into the sand near Beef and Doc. The builder was fuming, hands balled into fists, face flushed with his rage. He stomped onto the beach and sat next to his friends heavily. “They’ll regret it! I’ll make sure they regret it! Disgusting! We should- we oughta, ugh!!”

“We have bigger things to worry about.” Beef said quietly. Only then did Bdubs notice Beef dabbing away at a mixture of weird clear fluid and what had to be human blood on Doc’s natural hand with a piece of wool. “They saw Doc.”

The creeper was pouting. He felt as angry as Bdubs looked, but he was controlling it for his friends. He was also a little ashamed, because Beef seemed really upset and Doc couldn’t pin point why. When he looked up, Bdubs’ angry face had fallen into an expression much like Beef’s. The creeper between them was only getting more and more confused, hissing when Beef pressed the wool into a split knuckle. Bdubs pat his shoulder and looked at Beef. “So what do we do?”

“I find the bad people and make them stop hurting you.” Suggested Doc.

“Not right now, buddy,” Frowned Beef. “We should wait and ask Etho. He is his creation, after all.”

“He in the mines?

“I think so.”

“Okay. I’ll go get him. You clean Doc up. Be right back.” Bdubs stood and quickly retreated into the trees. Doc scowled further, looking at Beef and hissing. Not an angry hiss, a sad hiss, and his pack were slowly learning the difference.

“It’s okay, Doc.” Beef smiled. He put the wool down and pat Doc’s hand. “Does that feel better?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Um, I’m going to go get some stuff ready, okay? You stay here.” Beef stood up and walked into the watch tower nearby. Doc looked at his bruised hand and rolled his eyes, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. He began walking into the trees like Bdubs had, finding himself a nice clearing. He quickly moved towards where Etho kept his redstone, the big heavy chests full of pouches of the fancy dust and the heavy contraptions that utilized it.

Newly trained hands fumbling around the handle of a shovel, Doc began emptying out a hole in the center of the clearing. As he began laying down the basis of his new machine, the sun was beginning to set. He could hear his pack mates talking and the crackle of fire and was sure they were looking for him, but he would go sit by the fire with them when he was done. He could hear growling in the bushes and the creeper grinned, standing up. He was lucky for his humanoid form then, watching a rotting zombie come lumbering from the woods. It looked at him, confused, and when it did it fell right into his trap. Doc covered the hole with a patch of dirt after repeating this process several more times and set up the trip wires. Once he was done, he hid all the redstone he had taken from Etho, and he went to the campfire.

“Doc!” Etho gasped, bolting to his feet. “We were worried about you!”

Pride swelled in Doc’s chest. “I’m fine. Working. Hungry.”

“Okay buddy,” Bdubs smiled, patting next to him. Doc happily took his place, basking in the warmth of the fire, eating the meat he was given. It wasn’t as good as cocoa beans and it never would be, but Doc was eating what his packmates ate. “what were you working on?”

“A trap.” Said Doc. “A machine. To protect you.”

The three humans exchanged looks as Etho sat back down. “Actually Doc, buddy, that’s what we have to talk about. Beef explained respawn to you, right?”

“Yes!” Doc nodded. “That’s why the trap is important. If they can’t be killed, they must be scared away. The trap is scary.”

“But you know how I said we’re all friends?” Beef said, shuffling where he was sitting. “Even if those guys were pointing a sword at me- we’re friends. They’re Ren and Iskall. And Xisuma is going to come sooner or later to ask about you. You can’t trap Xisuma. He won’t hurt us and he won’t hurt you, but his work is to protect the Hermits. If you show him that you’re building traps to kill our friends, Xisuma is going to be angry.”

Doc stopped eating. He frowned and tried to wrap his head around so many words before shaking them off like he was wet and it was getting into his mechanics, junking him up until he couldn’t work anymore. “I don’t care. I will protect you.”

“And we have to protect you.” Said Etho, rubbing his hands together. “If you’re gonna be part of the NHO, you have to be a Hermit. To be a Hermit, you need Xisuma’s approval.”

Scowling, Doc shrunk into himself. When he didn’t say anything, the humans around the campfire shared a glance. Doc was known to have his quiet stretches. Sometimes he would see another creeper and his demeanor would change drastically. The NHO would have work calling and they would leave him alone for awhile, finding him upset or confused. There was one day where he was rained on and everyone thought he was gone, reverted back to a feral creeper. This wasn’t like those times. He just looked upset. Upset and confused.

“Hey,” Bdubs whispered, elbowing Doc and giving him a smile. “you’re our friend, Doc. We’ll fight for you like anyone else in our crazy family.” He pointed to Doc’s chest. “Doc.”

The creeper’s face broke with a smile. He pointed at Bdubs. “Bdubs.”

“You know, he may not be exactly like you, but there is another sort-of creeper on the server.” Beef spoke up. “I mean- sentient creeper. Tamed creeper? I’ll be honest, I don’t know why Python is, but he looks like a red creeper! He’s super sweet too. He works with the NHO, but he’s never come this far out into the jungle. Maybe that can change and you two can chat?”

Mixed emotions appeared at the mention of another creeper around his pack mates, but as Doc was learning, this creeper had been around much longer than him. He nodded and the three humans around the fire visibly deflated. “Alright. Cool. I’ll shoot Python a message about coming over maybe tomorrow? Before Xisuma can, hopefully.”

“It’s a plan.” Bdubs smiled. “I’m beat, you guys. I gotta go to bed.”

“The suns barely set!” Etho complained.

“Aw humbug! I’m tired.” Bdubs laughed, walking into the building nearby in search for a bed.

Some tattered conversation later, and Beef left to sleep too. Doc curled up next to the fire where he usually did, relishing in the heat and feeling himself begin to rumble with purrs. Etho laughed at the creeper fondly, letting their conversation die off with Doc’s awareness. Now that he was grappling with sleep too, Etho tilted his head at Doc. “Hey, Doc. Wanna come inside and sleep there for once? Or are you happy by the fire?”

Stretching out by the dying flames one last time, Doc got to his feet. The cold wind of night whipped past and pulled at his jacket. Beef had taken to sewing tears in it Doc made from climbing through the jungle, and Doc was extremely fond of the very warm piece of fabric. He only nodded to Etho and followed him inside to the barracks. Bdubs had climbed into a higher bunk and was already snoring, Beef was tucked against the wall on the bunk underneath him. There were only two more beds available in the tiny space, the air stale and warm and Doc found himself looking at Bdubs’ building skills more closely for the first time.

Etho collapsed into an unmade bed after climbing the ladder and loosely gestured to the empty one underneath. “Night Doc. Sleep well.”

The creeper looked perplexed by the soft sheets. He climbed into the bed and curled up on top of the blankets, humming softly and shutting his eyes. Even though he had heard Etho and Beef complaining about how hard it was to fall asleep with Bdubs snoring, Doc found himself listening to the sound happily, to the thrum of the jungle his friends had made. Even if he had his apprehensions about meeting the other humans (and red creepers) his friends had told him about, he knew he could trust them to keep him safe and always be there.

\----------

Doc was sitting in the trees, peering down. He had an iron axe Bdubs had gifted him and lodged the blade into the tree trunk, twisting it to make sure it was really stuck and using it to hold himself upright as he perched on a small branch. The leaves at the end of the branch obstructed him from those wandering down below, but he could see everything in the clearing. Either way, Doc instinctually crouched closer to the base of the branch when he heard a single pair of footsteps on the leaves but two voices filtering up from below.

“He should be somewhere around here!” Said Etho. “Dooc? Doc, buddy!”

Even though he wanted to hop down and see why Etho was calling him, Doc remained in the trees, ever watching. The voices were so close now, and even though the creeper was scared Etho might trigger the trap and get hurt himself, he wanted to see his work play through. If it was Etho who was hurt, and not the stranger, Doc would apologize to Etho a thousand times over and warn him next time, but it was too late.

“Oh no, it’s okay!” The new voice was harder to understand then the voices of the NHO. Doc knew his English was scratchy and his voice was deeper than most humans but this human had… Beef called them accents. His tongue twisted around the words that Doc knew in a different way and made them much harder to understand. “This looks really cool you know. Oh! And Wels and I, I meant to tell you, he and I got in a little skirmish.”

“Oh? Are you okay?”

“Totally! He’s just in the way of NHO’s glorious quest, you know? So I thought to tell you I fought valiantly.”

Doc could see them now. Etho’s grey clothes and this other red creeper. He dressed in several layers of human clothes and did look like a creeper like Beef had promised, in the face at least, but Doc had never seen a red creeper or another creeper that was humanoid like him. The red creeper was getting closer and closer to the trap, walking a few precious steps ahead of Etho, and Doc grinned as he leaned further over the branch to get a better view.

The branch creaked under his weight, making Etho stop with his laughter. The redstoner looked around for an explanation of the sound, but Python, entranced by Bdub’s building and Beef’s terraforming, walked right into the tripwire of Doc’s trap. The creeper’s hissed happily as a piston pulled away a chunk of earth, showing a hole in the ground, a hole of which spat out maybe a dozen baby zombies doused with speed potions.

The other creeper yelled as the zombies zeroed in, tiny mouths digging through his pant legs. With a shout of surprise Etho began searching for the high ground, climbing the nearest tree with appropriate footholds as Python stumbled away from his attackers, falling into a nearby pond where the babies only followed until the intruder of Doc’s land exploded in a flurry of dust and items. Etho was panting as he looked at the zombies, now swarming around his tree, unable to reach him. Happily pulling out his bow, Doc sent an arrow through each of the zombie’s heads before dropping down from the tree, catching his landing on soft, silent creeper paws and grinning at Etho. “What did you think of my trap?”

“You did that!?” Squawked Etho, still wrapped around his tree branch. “Oh god, I have to send Python a message, urgh,” As Etho let go of his branch with one arm to dig out the communicator box Doc has seen him and the other NHO members use before, he slipped to that side. Doc ran to catch him, dropping his bow and arrow on the forest floor in exchange of catching Etho in a perfect cradle as the man screamed. “aaAAh- oh, thank you Doc.”

“Princess Etho!” Beef’s loud laughter ran through the peaceful forest as he walked over. “What is this in which I have come across?”

“Etho fell out of a tree.” Doc explained, putting Etho down gingerly.

The human rubbed the back of his neck and began typing in his communicator. “Doc killed Py.”

“What?” Asked Beef, all joy lost from his tone. Doc shrunk back, awfully confused by the sudden mood shift. He started hissing again, mostly out of fear, looking around the clearing for what he may have done wrong.

There was a lot of noise coming out of the box in Etho’s hand and Doc was still hissing, confused and upset and he started looking for Bdubs, because now he was worried something had happened to their finalizing member. Etho spoke up again, tucking the beeping box into his pocket. “Doc rigged a trap full of baby zombies that Python fired. It must have been what he was working on yesterday. Xisuma is coming over now.”

“Oh, uh, okay! Okay! That- that works! We just need to… find Bdubs, um, get this cleaned up, and make Doc look more presentable! Okay, uh, Etho, you go with Doc, I’ll clean all this up.” Beef huffed; a nervous smile plastered on his features. He walked towards what Python had left behind and began shoving it all into a shulker box, leaving Etho to lead Doc back towards the barracks he had slept the night before.

This resulted in Doc wearing pants for the first time in his life. They were tight and uncomfortable and scratchy and when Etho tried to take off Doc’s jacket to give him a shirt the creeper hissed as loud as he could. “Jacket. Stays. On.”

“Okay. Jacket stays on. Sorry Doc.” Etho said, hands up. Doc nodded, shook out his left leg as he tried to get used to the feeling of the pant leg fabric. “Now you stay _right_ here while I go find Bdubs. Don’t move!”

With that, Etho ran out of the barracks.

Doc pouted and moved. He went outside and sat by the empty campfire, waiting for the rest of the NHO to arrive. He heard paddling in the river and grinned, jumping up to welcome Bdubs back from his building escapade only to see an entirely new person rowing down the river. The person’s back was facing the creeper, and Doc bristled and growled when they started to call out the names of his pack mates.

The boat parked in the sand and Doc drew his claws, glaring as a man climbed out of the boat. The person stopped with a small gasp, looking Doc up and down with wide eyes hidden behind a dark visor. “Oh goodness me.”


	4. Prologue Part Four

This man smelled _wrong_. Doc’s nostrils flared as he glared at the person in front of him. He was wearing armored clothing and a large, bulky helmet over his face that only let the creeper see his eyes. Doc deduced he was human from the shape of him, but the creeper could have been wrong if the man’s smell had anything he say about it. He didn’t smell like the Overworld at all and his hand went to the sword at his hip, movements slow and hesitant.

“Uh… hello my friend. I am… Xisuma.” The man said. He had an accent like Python’s, but he spoke slowly and Doc didn’t struggle to understand as much. The creeper hissed anyways, making Xisuma unsheathe his sword, and Doc flexed his claws in response.

“Oh. _Oh._ Doc! Doc!” Beef gasped, running towards the beach from the tree line after dropping the shulker of Python’s things he had been carrying. He put his hand on Doc’s back and shot the intruding person on the beach a nervous smile. “Hello X! You’ve met Doc!”

“I am… goodness me, Beef. Did Etho do this?” Xisuma asked. With Beef now in their presence, he sheathed his sword and stepped closer, ever curious. Doc showed off his teeth and hissed, Beef squeezing his shoulder in a sort of warning. The bushes behind them rustled with the ring of Etho’s and Bdubs’ voices, Doc ducking away from Beef to make sure they were both fine.

“Oh, X!” Etho gasped, giving Doc a terse smile before bounding over to shake the newcomers hand. He paused before their hands could meet and gave Xisuma a grin. “Here as our Admin or an AFK fish farmer?”

“A friend and a concerned Admin.” X snorted, clasping their hands. He gave Beef a hug and shook Bdubs’ hand too. Doc sulked in the background, still very wary of the strange thing on his beach. Once his pack mates had finished their greetings with him, their smiles and laughter died and all of the attention was on the creeper. He hissed out his nerves, adjusting his jacket as a nervous tick. The man with the helmet smiled, but you could only tell by the way his cheeks pressed into his eyes. “Well, hello, er, Doc. I apologize for startling you. I am XisumaVoid, the Admin of the Hermits. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Eyes narrowed and lips pursed, Doc grunted. “I’m Doc.”

“He’s fussy around new people.” Bdubs laughed, voice strained and nervous. “But he’s a big sweetheart once you get to know him!”

“I’m not fussy.” Said Doc. He hissed under his breath. “You don’t smell human.”

The three members of the NHO all sucked in breaths in a way that sounded a lot like hissing, but Xisuma just began to laugh. “I’m not! Good nose, my friend. I am Voidkind, from the End. I only look human. I promise you I’m not here to hurt anyone. I just wanted to meet you and sit down for some discussion. Would you be alright with that?”

The creeper’s eyes drifted over the members of the NHO. He recalled what they had told him- that he would never be able to join the NHO until he became a Hermit, and to be a Hermit he had to get Xisuma’s approval. He knew he could trust his friends, and if his friends trusted this _Voidkind_ thing, he would trust him. So, Doc gave Xisuma a curt nod and let himself be led away to the edge of the beach where the NHO couldn’t hear their conversation. The man sat down and Doc hesitantly followed his lead.

“So, my friend, there is first something we have to discuss about your relationship with the Hermits.” Xisuma began, and Doc was already bristling. “Unless the other Hermits have agreed to PVP, or player versus player fighting, you cannot, and I mean _cannot_ hurt them. We’re all friends here. Even when we mess around and play our games, we’re all friends. Am I understood?”

“The one-eyed man pointed a sword at Beef. He hadn’t said yes to… to- PVP.” Said Doc.

“You weren’t here when we started this NHO business, but he did, a few months ago. The two you met were Ren and Iskall and you hurt them very badly. You can’t go about doing that to anyone who upsets you.” Xisuma seemed like a light-hearted man, but Doc didn’t like how serious his tone had become. “Next time you’re in a situation like that, you can always ask the person to back off. If you’re making someone uncomfortable or have hurt them, _you_ have to back off. It’s an agreement the Hermits have made and if you are going to be a Hermit, you must promise not to hurt anyone.”

Mouth opening and closing, Doc struggled with that promise. It wasn’t like he was blood-thirsty, but he would do anything to protect his pack mates. If he had to, he would fight for them. He would kill for them. It was a hard truth, but Doc distantly remembered that if he was ever going to _be_ one of them, he would have to agree to Xisuma’s rules. “I promise.”

“Good,” Xisuma smiled, voice relaxed once more. “I see that Etho made you some prosthetics. May I?” He gestured towards Doc’s arm and the creeper grumbled, but he carefully scooted closer and rucked up the sleeve of his jacket.

It was certainly something for him to get used to, the heavy metal arm and the dexterous fingers, but Doc had become quite fond of the strength it afforded him. The rain was frustrating, but the creeper didn’t like water in the first place since it could dampen gunpowder. More so, Doc found himself really enjoying colour. He was incredibly grateful for his friends and what they had done for him. He was incredibly interested in his own cybernetics and he was determined to become as good as a redstoner as Etho, if not better.

The Admin gently took Doc’s arm in his hands and gently adjusted the plates that made up his bicep and forearm, peeling them back. “Goodness me my friend, this is extremely well done. You can feel everything?” Xisuma asked, getting a timid nod from Doc. He didn’t like being this close to anyone and was holding back a hiss for the sake of the NHO. “Could I see the shoulder? I want to make sure you’re not in pain.”

“I’m not.”

“Let me check.”

Rolling his eyes, Doc pulled off his sleeve and let the jacket hang from his natural arm. Xisuma rolled onto his knees, put a hand on the back of Doc’s shoulder, and ran his fingers over where the metal connected to Doc’s shoulder. The plates along Doc’s arm recalibrated at the strange touch and Xisuma’s fingers were getting awfully close to one of the locks that kept the arm attached to the anchor built right into Doc’s skeletal system. The creeper hissed (mostly involuntarily), and Xisuma withdrew. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” He asked, voice perfectly calm. Doc felt his face heat up, but he nodded, and Xisuma gratefully backed off. “My apologies.”

There was a moment of silence as Doc shrugged his jacket back on properly. “Have I… passed?” Doc asked, rolling his shoulders and rubbing where his arm was anchored to his torso.

“I have to say I’m excited to see where this goes. Welcome to the Hermits my friend.” Xisuma stuck out his hand. He wore thick leather gloves that Doc really didn’t trust, so he held out his metal hand. Chuckling, Xisuma swapped hands and clasped Doc around the metal wrist. “I’ll have a communicator ready for you in a few days. So you can be in touch with the other Hermits.”

Something flickered in Doc’s stomach and he nodded, smiling the way he had been taught. He got to his feet with Xisuma, and as the Admin calmly began walking towards the NHO, Doc broke into a sprint and tackled Etho. The man yelped as Bdubs and Beef started laughing, Beef heaving up Doc into a hug as Bdubs began patting his back and cheering. Etho got to his feet and as a group they wrapped each other up in their arms, squeezing and laughing and giggling, Doc’s joy a mixture of human laughs and scratchy hissing. Only after Doc was dizzy from spinning and hugging and laughing did he back away, the plates on his arms recalibrating from so much stimulation. The man didn’t touch a lot, okay?

“Now that all this is settled.” Xisuma sighed happily, cracking his back and looking around the beautiful jungle. “Stay out of my fish farm, you beasts.”

“Stay out of our jungle, cheater.” Said Bdubs, sticking out his tongue.

And so Xisuma left the jungle unscathed, the Hermits plus one, the NHO nearly doubling in size. Once his boat was out of the distance the NHO hugged again, squeezing the air out of each other as laughter rang through the air.

“Oh, oh, this is _amazing_!”

“I have so many plans! This is going to be so much fun!”

“Wait until you see how everything works, Doc, it’s amazing. And, and when we go to our next world! We can make a giant base for the four of us and it will be awesome!”

“Oh, you’re stuck with us now!”

“All of that sounds fantastic. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

\----------

“Well if it isn’t Mumbo Jumbo Bumbo, here again, after disappearing for a week, again.” Iskall smirked, using a hoe to carefully spread lime green concrete powder over his side of Renskall island. He didn’t even have to look to know it was Mumbo, because the man stumbled in his landing and grunted as he righted himself. Iskall dug the hoe into the powder and leaned on the handle as he turned to his friend. “How are you dude?”

“Iskall, your _face_.” Mumbo slack-jawed, eyes wide. “Are you okay dude?”

“I’m fine, just a little run in with Etho’s monster.” Iskall shrugged. His mechanical eye had to be replaced and his human eye was swollen shut, his bottom lip busted and nose bruised, but he was fine. He wasn’t going to let a creeper that couldn’t even explode stop him from being cool. “I’m fine, seriously. You were gone for a long time. Are you okay?”

“Stop asking about me mate, what do you mean ‘Etho’s monster’?” Mumbo asked, walking forwards and poking at Iskall’s bruises.

“The dude rigged a creeper with redstone.” Said Iskall, batting away Mumbo’s prying hands. “It’s insane! It’s like Python but green and half metal. It’s a thousand pounds and punches like a truck. I’m fine though. Seriously. Stress worried enough over it, I don’t need you poking at me too. Ren and I already have a plan about getting that thing back! But I know you don’t care about the NHO business. Where were you?”

“I was- building.” Mumbo grumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Iskall laughed. “You’re a redstoner. You leave the world for redstone. Where did you go that you had to build something?”

“Don’t laugh!” Mumbo complained, twisting his mustache around his finger. “I met a guy! He’s a really talented builder who caught me doing some redstone in an empty world. He and I struck up conversation and we did some work together. I kind of lost track of time. He’s super funny! He reminds me of you.”

“I’m flattered.” Iskall smirked, going back to his work with the green concrete powder. “What’s this guy’s name?”

“Grian.” Said Mumbo. “He’s a world jumper who works in creative. Can you believe that? But we were talking and he said he’s been thinking of settling down in one place for awhile and is searching for an Admin and a good group of people. I’m thinking of talking to Xisuma about him joining.”

“Well I oughta meet this ‘Grian’ character soon.” Iskall shook his head fondly, it was very Mumbo to get ahead of himself.

“Okay, can we talk about your thing now?” Mumbo pleaded. “Where’s Ren? How did Etho tame a creeper? Are you sure you don’t have a brain hemorrhage? What do you mean, ‘plan about getting that thing back’?”

“Wellll it obviously has an affinity for violence. And rumor has it Etho taught the thing redstone.”

“Goodness me.” Mumbo snorted, taking a seat on a nearby stone. He watched Iskall work, pouring down more powder and spreading it out, pouring more powder and spreading it out. Mumbo was letting himself snicker about the green tint it was leaving on Iskall’s skin as the dust was blew around and stuck to the sweat he had worked up.

“Ren and I were thinking, we could go into the jungle, pull some pranks on it. We were considering… building a statue I think? But rigging it to explode the second you touched it!” Iskall put his hoe down to better focus on the conversation, walking over to sit next to Mumbo. “And I mean, if he attacks us, Ren and I will just respawn. Buut Mr. Creeper Creep could get labeled as a problem! Ren suggested just- pouring some water on his circuitry but I would like to know how Etho made an arm and a face and _tamed_ a creeper.”

“That’s pants, Iskall. You’re bloody insane.” Mumbo said. “You’re going to aggravate a creeper because…?”

“The thing punched me! It punched me really hard. C’mon Mumbolio.”

“Well, don’t you think Etho would be attached to it?” Posed Mumbo. “If he really did make it an arm and a face and tamed it like you said, I think he would really care about it. Not to mention Beef and Bdubs. They’re total pushovers!”

“I guess you’re right. Well- I don’t know!” Iskall pouted and scratched at his jaw. “I’ll think of something better. I’m meeting up with Stress tomorrows anyways.”

“Please don’t get yourself killed.” Mumbo chuckled, patting Iskall on the back and standing up. “I’m heading home, mate. I need to sleep in my own bed. G’night.”

“Enjoy your dirt hut.”


	5. Prologue Part Five

And that’s how the months went on.

The NHO became more and more of a problem. So did La Revolution, and the Allium Alliance. The server was cut into parts of those unwilling to participate, those who found themselves roped in, and those who were leading.

One of the people leading became Doc.

When Xisuma had finally presented Doc with a communicator, the creeper had 77 friendly PVP kills under his belt, taking out those who dared threaten the NHO with a diamond sword and a pocket full of redstone, TNT hanging from his belt. To show to Hermits rallied against him he meant business, Doc added the number to his tag as he logged into the device for the first time (the m was a typo, but Doc never figured out how to change it and no one questioned it so it stuck).

The world was good for the creeper. He had his friends behind him, the world stretched out in front of him, diamonds piled at his feet. There was nothing Doc could think of that he wanted other than what he had and looking at the jungle he and his friends had carved up, ugly scars of industrialization made beautiful by their builds and the sheer power of their presence, Doc knew life could never be any better than it was in that jungle. He really was happy, even if the creepers of the forest began attacking him like he was another human. The NHO teased him about it too, but Doc didn’t mind. It made him feel more at home, like he truly was a Hermit.

Home the jungle was. There was no reason to leave the jungle.

But it happened to Bdubs first.

No one paid much mind to it. It wasn’t that big of a deal considering how much the man built and terraformed. Vines curled around his arms and his legs and Doc could have sworn leaves were growing out from under his skin. The man was still Bdubs, loud and overly-excited and cheerful with just a little bit of repressed anger issues. So no one cared. Why would they? He was fine.

Anyways, if someone were to ask him about the new additions to his look, Bdubs would shrug them away. He never remembered where they came from, only that he looked down and bamn! Green. It was from all the terraforming, he’d say, and throw a vine wrapped around his wrist into the river like it was a fish he had taken off his fishing rod.

Another one would be curled in the same place the next day.

Doc found himself getting more and more agitated by Bdubs’ long disappearances. If one afternoon counted as a long disappearance, at least. Being a proper Hermit, Doc decided he better start acting like a proper person and be more civilized, so he had been fighting down his pack instincts almost as violently as he was fighting the La Revolution. Still, Bdubs was a stickler for rules and a worrier himself, so he always warned Doc, Etho, and Beef he was going to the other side of the jungle for building, or was going to the mesa to check for trespassers. Though, as the months ticked on, he stopped telling his friends where he was going when he left the campsite each morning. The other three members of the NHO had to shrug it off and hope Bdubs was only getting more adventurous. He always came back before midnight, and they weren’t his parents, and there was no curfew, so what could they have said?

Oh, the things Doc wished he had said.

Sitting in front of the campfire, the moon high in the sky, was Etho. Doc laid stretched out across from him, something the creeper only did when he felt safe. Lounging like a cat. It was cute, in a weird way, since Doc and Etho had only improved on his prosthetics and made them look all the more threatening. Doc was drifting in and out of sleep, but he and Etho had promised Beef they would stay awake and wait for Bdubs to return safely while the other man slept after a long day of manual work.

“Do you remember when Bdubs would go to sleep before sunset?” Doc asked sleepily.

Etho chuckled and nodded. He poked at the fire with his sword and the crumbling logs fell into a pile of hissing embers. If he didn’t know better, he could hear Doc purring. “Oh yeah. None of us could get to sleep with that god-awful snoring.”

“Where do you think he is now?”

Pausing, Etho looked into the fire. The brightness hurt his eyes and he felt the overwhelming urge to put the flames out. “Probably in the Mesa. You know how resource runs go: they take forever and you leave your communicator on your chest and everyone thinks you’re dead. Actually- I wouldn’t be surprised if he just put a bed down and is sleeping out there. Under the stars.”

“Bdubs?” Doc laughed, voice deeper and scratchier than usual. It was hard to understand the creeper like this, but Etho wouldn’t dare disturb his peace. “Bdubs wouldn’t sleep without a roof over his head in a million years.”

The laughing was light-hearted and short-lived. The moon was beginning its fall towards the horizon like the earth was drawing it in and Doc felt like he could relate, the gravity of the situation pulling him into the lull of mindless sleep. Doc frowned at the fire when Etho stood and proclaimed he needed sleep. The man disappeared into the barracks and Doc remained at the firepit no matter how tired he was, diligently waiting for his friend’s return.

Bdubs never did come back.

Doc stayed awake all to sunrise, only let his weary head shut down when Beef stumbled out of the barracks with a yawn. The creeper wasn’t sure how long he was asleep, curled up on the beach, but when he woke up the other two members of the NHO were gone. It was in his instincts to panic, to search for them, to trounce through the jungle hissing until someone hissed back and they could be reunited, but Doc was past that. Doc was past that part of himself so he stood, knocking the grains out his cybernetics as he chided himself for falling asleep in probably the worst place for his mechanical body. He trusted his pack would be back by nightfall, arms filled with redstone and diamonds- or backs aching from building- or hands raw from a grip around a sword after another fight with Wels or Xisuma or Iskall.

He went to work on redstone contraptions, something he had fallen in love with. Doc could stare at the stuff for hours, making strange machinery. At that time, he was forcing zombies through an End portal in an attempt to get loot from the dangerous dimension without subjecting himself to the danger. A heavy bag of questionably looted loot later, and Doc was back at the campsite, searching for his friends.

First to return was Etho. A vine was wrapped around his neck.

“Hey man,” Doc frowned, sitting in the sand. “You okay?”

“M’ fine,” Said Etho, kneeling across from Doc in his usual spot. Etho usually started the fire. It was routine. But the man made no move to. When Doc scowled at him and rolled onto his knees to get it started himself, taking the flint and steel that always waited nearby, Etho’s hand shot out and grabbed Doc’s wrist. His voice was small and soft. “Don’t.”

The creeper didn’t push it. He put the flint down and moved back to his spot. “Well… Did you find Bdubs? He still hasn’t checked his communicator.”

“Didn’t look.” Etho replied. He stared at the sticks in the firepit Doc had gathered.

Something unpleasant rolled in the creeper, making him feel sick, but Doc played it off as nerves since Bdubs was yet to return, let alone check his communicator. While it was in his head, Doc sent Beef a message asking if he would be back at the camp soon. After a few awkward minutes of Etho’s distant staring and Doc fidgeting, the creeper stood. He walked around the firepit and sat next to Etho, his metal shoulder touching his friend’s. Doc was never a very touchy person, even with the NHO, but if he ever were to show physical affection it was a known rule among the Hermits no one was allowed to touch his cybernetics.

This was the acceptation. Etho didn’t seem to notice Doc had even sat down. “Are you sure you’re alright Etho?”

“Tired,” Replied the human.

“Mines all day, huh?” Doc smiled.

“No. Walked.”

“You… what?” Doc looked at Etho and frowned. The man’s red eyes were downcast, greenish black bags having begun to form underneath. His white hair was oilier, sticking out in strange directions even with the bandana to control the usually fluffy mess. The mask he still wore to hide the scars over his nose and mouth where Doc had scratched him all those months ago was being ever so slightly pulled down by the pressure around Etho’s throat.

“Walked around the jungle.” He elaborated. “It was nice. Peaceful.”

“Oh,” Said Doc, nodding. “Cool. Um, maybe you should go to sleep dude. I can make you something to eat and bring it to you.”

Standing with a nod, Etho made a move towards the barracks. He stopped after about two steps, looking over his shoulder. “No fire.” Was all he said, disappearing into Bdubs’ beautiful build.

Scowling at his back as he walked away, Doc tried to ignore the nervousness that was clawing inside of him. Etho was fine. He was tired! Etho was fine. Where was Bdubs? And Beef? Doc chose not to worry about that as long as he didn’t have to and instead fretted over finding something for Etho to eat that would help him feel better and didn’t need a fire to cook.

The watermelon the creeper served Etho was the man’s final meal.

Beef came home around midnight, a long vine trailing into the bush connecting him to the tree line even as the man made his way to bed. When Doc cut the vine with his sword, one end retreated into the leaves, the other curled around Beef’s leg until it couldn’t anymore. It was terrifying and strange but when Doc tried to convince Beef to change, to take that vine off, he was waved away.

Instead of sleeping, Doc held post at the door of the barracks. Pulling two all-nighters in a row wasn’t his smartest decision but he stuck to it. When morning came, he searched the mining mesa, and the community desert, and the community district. Doc was exhausted, but he was worried about his friend. When all of the places the creeper could think Bdubs may be proved to be empty, he sent a message to Xisuma on his communicator.

_Docm77: Bdubs is missing from the jungle and isn’t active on his communicator. Do you know where he is?_

_XisumaVoid: Ask Stress? Iskall maybe. I can search his code if it gets desperate._

_Docm77: thanks man_

So Doc searched Renskall island. He found nothing but a very angry Iskall running at him with a pickaxe from a cactus with a mustache on it, so he was quick to leave. Stress’ response to Doc’s search was much sweeter, but she told Doc she hadn’t seen Bdubs in a few days even though they were supposed to meet as part of the Allium Alliance earlier that day. At that point of the day, Doc’s elytra were in need of repairs and the sun was leaning towards the horizon, so the creeper turned to go home.

In his absence, his home had been swallowed. Vines and bushes were growing up the side of the barracks that weren’t there before. The skull Doc had built was missing. The watch tower was collapsed and a large tree grew in its place.

_Docm77: Xisuma, I’m desperate. Something is up with the jungle._

“ETHO!” Doc cried into the tree line after returning to the barracks. In the maybe ten, twenty minutes he had seen it last, the structure had been swallowed by the jungle. “BEEF, DUDE!”

No one came. There wasn’t even a cry for help. When Doc moved to check the mines, the entrance was blocked by heavy foliage. His axe made quick work of the stubborn greenery, but Doc’s echoing call fell on deaf ears, or maybe just no ears at all. As the cyborg looked through the jungle in all their usual places, their pranks, the stupid thing they had made Mumbo build, the crater from several explosions, the overgrown skull, even the entrance to the NHO territory Beef had built when he first met them, but the only constant was the overwhelming presence of green.

“BDUBS?” Doc shouted over the mining mesa. It was empty as ever, and sound traveled well in that place, so even if Doc couldn’t see his friends mining, he knew he would have heard them if they were there.

Walking along soon-to-be-overgrown walking paths of the jungle once more, Doc continued the search for his friends. He called for them until his voice was raw, until the moon was high over his head. He took to the trees, hoping high ground would aid him in his search, but there was nothing. No matter how long Doc searched, how loud he begged and pleaded, how determined he was, he could not find the NHO anywhere in the cursed jungle.

“PLEASE!” Doc screeched. His voice was hoarse. It cracked and broke and Doc felt his natural eye burning. When he rubbed at the ache, his hand came away wet with tears. And if Doc was being honest, he didn’t know creepers could cry. “GUYS!? I don’t know if this is some sick joke but- but you can come out now!”

He lost track of how long he was searching. Every time he turned, Doc could have sworn he was in the same part of the jungle, the green eyes of the damned place staring back at him. Even in night, the foliage was so bright it burned into Doc’s eyes. Everything was blurring together, the pain in his stomach, the heaviness in his heart, the pounding in his head, the green in his vision. Doc screamed and screamed until his voice couldn’t work around the English words he worked so hard to master, dissolving into desperate hisses.

At some point, Doc fell. He was too weak to get up. The creeper hadn’t even realized he has fallen. It was that which helped Doc realized he hadn’t eaten or drank or slept since he started his search, and the cold earth of the jungle was sweet against his feverish skin. He wanted to stand back up. He needed to stand back up. Doc couldn’t make his body listen to him, even as the moon shone bright over head, even as sleep and hunger and thirst called to him. All Doc could do was stare up at the sky, body heavy with exhaustion.

Doc would have died in that jungle if it wasn’t for Xisuma. Footsteps in the distance gave the creeper enough hope to try to sit up, but he was quick to fall. Arms that were not those of his pack surrounded him and Doc tried to hiss, tried to escape, wanting to kick and scream, but he was pulled into the chest of someone much smaller than himself Xisuma’s panicked voice cut through his weary thoughts.

“We have to go. We have to go Doc, get up. I’m sorry my friend.”

Doc struggled more. He needed to find his pack.

“I couldn’t find them, Doc. They’re gone. But you and I, and everyone else, we are still here. We need to leave before anyone else is hurt. Do you hear me? Get to your feet, Doc. I have you.”

“I can’t.” The creeper croaked. “They- I- _can’t_ , X, please- _please_.”

“I’m so sorry my friend.” Doc could hear the tears in his Admin’s voice. “We’re going somewhere safe, okay? It’s going to be okay. Deep breath now, take a deep breath for me.”

The creeper tried to struggle. He had sparred with Xisuma before. The man was quick on his feet but hesitant to hurt anyone and Doc knew how to use that to his advantage but... but he was so _tired_. In the delirium of exhaustion Doc lashed out, trying to get back to his feet, to run further into the jungle, to find his _pack_ , but Xisuma's grip on him tightened like a hug and it suddenly felt like Doc's world had been flipped upside down, that the air was stolen from his lungs and the moon had finally fallen to crush what was left of Docm77.

Doc woke up on a spawn island for the first time. The NHO were not with him like they always promised. In their place was a man in a red sweater with big, nervous eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Prologue ;)


	6. Chapter One

In retrospect, maybe that’s why Grian and Doc never got along.

Sure, Grian was funny, and nice, and talented, but he was also a thorn in Doc’s side and the cyborg could never shake him off. When he woke up on that beach the creeper had staggered to his feet. His exhaustion and hunger had been healed by whatever Xisuma had done to him, but losing his friends was still a dagger lodged deep in his chest. His inventory was empty, his cybernetics were beginning to rust, and all the creeper wanted was to dive back into that jungle.

There was a mull over the island. Everyone was staring at Doc and in his panic, the creeper had hissed. Most flinched, like he expected them too, and Mumbo went to the new man’s side. Someone grabbed Doc’s shoulder and he whirled out, reaching for his sword, but it wasn’t there, and it was just Xisuma.

“You’re alright, my friend. I will give you a hand. Everyone else- go begin your new homes. We will have a group meeting in a few days, so keep your communicators nearby.” Slowly, people began to leave the island. It was just Xisuma and Doc now, and the Admin looked tired. Doc’s face was stuck in a permanent grimace, his body stiff as a rod as Xisuma hugged him. “I’m so sorry, Doc. I tried to find them. I really did. They’re gone. No code, no nothing. I’m so sorry.”

“No,” Doc growled. He didn’t hug back, didn’t try to escape. “no, you left them behind, I was going to find them, I could have found them-”

“They’re gone.” Xisuma’s voice was choked and he stepped away from Doc. Tears were building in his eyes, lost behind the visor his helmet. “You can stay with me while we get back on our feet.”

Begrudgingly, Doc did. He wasn’t at all happy with his predicament.

Once he got the handle of starting from nothing and had the basic resources he needed, he branched away from Xisuma and began on his own base. Or at least his own projects. Grief weighed heavy within him, and even as Doc took in the new world (not to mention the new water life), he found himself thinking about his lost friends.

Were they alive? Were they looking for him? Or were they dead like Xisuma promised?

Would Doc ever stop thinking about them?

He didn’t spend much time around the other Hermits. He was perfectly happy with taking their diamonds and retreating to the edges of the map in wild-spun adventures. Until Ren came along, at least.

The man _refused_ to leave Doc alone. The creeper would be going about his business, checking his shops, collecting his wares, and a very happy human would bounce around him, asking him questions riddled with weird slang and infectious laughter. It was hard for Doc to exactly say no when Ren offered him a place in the Stock Exchange- the best diamond making business in the land that involved all the redstone projects Doc could ever need to bury his nose into so he didn’t have to think about the jungle anymore.

Pride swelled in Doc’s chest whenever Ren praised his skills. He was one of the only Hermits Doc let himself be Doc around (purring and hissing included), mostly because when full moons came, Ren would hide from everyone but Doc. They were a good duo, they balanced each other out, and Doc found himself grieving over the NHO less and less, even if the hurt was still a fresh wound that throbbed every few days.

Doc had fallen out of disrepair without Etho. The creeper had never realized how much he relied on the other man until a little under two months in the new world had passed and Doc punched himself in the face, cracking the lens of his eye and smashing the sunglasses Ren had given him.

“So… I… what do I do?” Ren swallowed, looking at where Doc’s twitching arm was laid out in front of him.

“Um, well, you peel back the plates first. They’re all on hinges- it’s not that bad just- be gentle.” Doc shivered when Ren touched his arm. The sensors in it were on the frits and everything felt either too little or too much at the moment. Ren used a small blade to pop open the plates of Doc’s bicep first, since that’s were most of the receptors were. “Okay, now, you just use that piece of wool and brush away all the grime worked up on the springs and the redstone.”

“This is crazy, dude,” Ren snorted, but he complied, twisting the wool into a small point and using that point to brush through the soil and sand and everything that wasn’t meant to be there caught up in Doc’s arm. “Etho was a madman.”

The arm under Ren’s hands seized. The springs crunched together until the iron grinded into itself, the redstone wires glowed bright red, the plates snapped shut on the wool, barely missing Ren’s fingers. The werewolf looked up at his friend and saw the red of his broken eye beaming, flickering, but beaming, the mechanism inside was spurring so much Ren could hear it. Doc’s jaw was set firm, glaring at the wall in front of him. His creeper eye was always hard to read, but it seemed blanker than usual.

“Sorry,” Ren whispered. He put his hand on Doc’s shoulder where his anchor was and Doc growled under his breath until the hand was pulled away. “I can stop if you need me to, dude.”

“Just- one second.” Said Doc. His cybernetics responded better to his emotions than he did and locked up when he was upset. The creeper dropped his head and tried for some deep breaths. He was trying not to think about the NHO, he just had to push them out of his mind, if he didn’t think about it he wouldn’t worry about it and he wouldn’t be sad, Doc was fine, it was fine, he was fine. The creeper’s next breath shuddered and he growled at himself, going deathly still when Ren stood up and hugged him from behind.

“You know you can always talk to me dude, right?” Ren swallowed and tucked his nose against Doc’s natural shoulder. “I know you and I didn’t get off to the best start. I know you didn’t think it- but they were my friends too. I… I miss them too. Everyone does. I know that- you were closer to them then I could ever hope to be just we’re all… somewhat in the same boat.”

“Talking won’t bring them back.” Doc hissed. He didn’t mean to. He didn’t like angry hissing at Ren.

“No, but it brings back memories. Good memories.” Ren finally unlatched from Doc. When he sat back down, it took the creeper a moment to realize that the plates on his arm had popped open again. “People come and go from our little group all the time. It’s always sad when they go, but it’s a gift when they come back, or when new people join, like G. The point about the Hermits is to make friends and make memories. You did that, Doc.”

The rest of the repairs went by without a hitch. Ren invited Doc to stay the night and they set up a campfire by the man’s latest build. It made the hole in Doc’s chest ache and whine and the creeper squeezed his eyes shut to relish in the warmth of the flames to block out the pain. Across the fire, where Etho once sat, was singing. Ren was singing under his breath, poking at the flames.

They had eaten their fill on beetroot soup and the day was long and draining. Doc found himself laying out beside the fire in a way he hadn’t done in months. The warmth soaked into his bones and he shut his eye with the gentlest of sighs as Ren continued to hum and to sing. The night air was pinching and cold but Doc was so happy by the fire he didn’t find himself caring. Without Beef to sew any tears, Doc’s lab coat had become tattered and dirty, but the creeper pulled it tight around himself and used the lapels to cover his ears. There was no barracks to return to, so Doc fell asleep in the sand, purring softly.

\----------

After that, Doc tried to spend more time with the other Hermits. He really did!

But… Ren wasn’t the best influence, and spending time with the Hermits meant pranking the bejeezus out of them- to the werewolf at least.

Did that end up starting a war? Maybe.

Did Doc get to direct his anger at the person who least deserved it? Oh, oh yes he did.

He stood on a battle field under a pretty little flag. He had Ren and Wels and Xisuma next to him, something the final member of the NHO never thought would happen, but he was glad they were on his side. Doc didn’t know them as well as he wanted to, but False and Impulse were with him too. He felt good about where he stood, a trident locked in his hand, the rain overhead falling gently. Not for long.

Across from them was the man in the red sweater. Doc found out his name was Grian from Xisuma in those first few days, and that Mumbo had found him. There was the spark of an idea in Doc’s head to recruit the redstoner, not only for his talent, but to annoy his competitor. Grian was rambunctious and loud and a prankster and Doc refused to admit he had a little bit of the respect for the man. He was allied with Iskall, Cleo, Joe, Jevin, Tango, and Stress. Grian wore a smile and there was a glint in his eye Doc knew meant trouble but it only made the creeper all the more excited. The wind over the battle field picked up for almost a moment and Doc felt something grow in his chest when the scent coming off of Grian was _not_ human, and was _not_ of the Overworld.

“We’ve never been properly introduced.” He said, leaning on the handle of his trident. Everyone around bristled a little bit. Word was Grian was used to playing in creative. He hadn’t seen what a trident could really do- or what Doc could really do.

“We haven’t!” Grian smiled. He stuck out his hand. “I am Grian, leader of the G-Team!”

Doc extended his metal hand. Xisuma snorted at the memory and Grian’s smile faltered only for a moment as he switched hands. Doc kept his grip vice tight, smile sweet, and when they parted he took pleasure in that fact that Grian’s hand was red and the man was trying to hide how much it hurt by stuffing his hand into his pant pocket. “Docm77. Leader of Team Star.”

“Uh, so, we thought to lay down some rules!” Grian said, gesturing towards his team. Doc didn’t realize how much he missed this, shaking people down. “No PVP until both teams have their bases! And all PVP should be limited to this little arena here. Once we have our bases up, then we’ll take down this truce flag!”

“Good idea, Grian,” Xisuma said. Everyone else gave their agreement but Doc. Everyone was looking at him again, and the creeper used it to his advantage. He stood to his full height and pulled his trident out of the ground. He was painfully aware that he was the only one who currently had a weapon in their hand. It was easy to notice that even members of his own team were taking small steps back, or at least shuffling away, until Doc slammed his trident back into the ground and the rain stopped.

“Sounds good to me. Two weeks.”

The Civil War had been a great way to relieve stress. PVP, battle plans, redstone, and no spare time? Doc was in heaven. Watching Grian freeze in fear when he got the first glimpse of the true use of _Channeling_ on his trident was good too. It was the wrong kind of memory to relive, maybe, but it made Doc feel at least a bit more at peace. Losing the war- well- that was less exciting, but it had been an amazing distraction while it lasted.

It was after the final battle. Doc was laying in the grass, catching his breath, staring at the sky. The crackle of fire was alive around him, as was the clang of collapsing armor. Grian’s smiling visage obstructed his vision and Doc raised an eyebrow. “Good game. It was a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“You throw a good war, Grian.” Doc smirked. “But I won’t lose to you again.”

“I can’t wait.” Said Grian. Laughter was ringing behind him and he ran off to join.

When Doc sat up on his elbows, he saw Grian jumping on Iskall’s back as Iskall teased Mumbo’s terrible mole abilities. Iskall swung Grian around his shoulders and the three started off towards the shopping district, laughter still carrying through the air. Left behind was Tango, his cartoony bow clearly overexaggerated as Impulse laughed at him and pulled him up into a bro hug. They began to make their way off as well. Cleo and Stress were looking at the G-Team base, a grin stretching on Doc’s face as he watched False sneak up behind them and make Stress scream. The creeper found himself laughing as a drone buzzed overhead, accompanied by Scar’s shouts as the builder rode his business partner’s drone over the battle field to get a good view of the destruction, Cub barely visible on the ConCorp platform with a controller in his hands. Jevin, Joe, Xisuma, and Wels were talking by the Star Team moat, staring at the magnificent fortress. All who was left was Ren. Just as Doc began to search the pitted battlefield for his friend, Ren flopped onto the grass next to him.

“Pretty good, huh?” He smirked. Doc really hated how the werewolf seemed to be able to read his mind. “I’m proud of you man. Really put yourself out there. I think everyone was really happy to see you getting so involved.”

“Stop talking,” Doc pleaded, laying back down too. The gentle breeze paired with the warmth of the ruined planes biome was glorious.

“Okay.”

The hole in his chest still ached. The grief still pounded in his skull. And yet, Doc had to admit Ren of all people was right. He was happier. He felt so much happier, laying on the scarred earth, staring at the sky, his enemy turned friend reclining next to him. The pain of losing the NHO would never go away, but it was good to know Doc would weather it with the rest of the Hermits at his side.

Of course, the reprieve that moment afforded him didn’t last long, because the Hermits were terrible at ‘peace and quiet’


	7. Chapter Two

Doc was walking in the new area Xisuma had permitted the Hermits to explore. The village nearby the Hermits had populated was loud and cramped and nothing but a good source of headaches. He had watched a ridiculous pile of houses begin to spiral towards the sky and now Doc was looking for something else to entertain him. There was no much in this new area, new animals, new food… new redstone. He was hoping to find something that would keep him and his brain busy when he saw smoke in the distance.

Raising an eyebrow, Doc worked his way over the hill. A few meters in front of him, was a strange white machine sticking out of the ground. The creeper narrowed his eyes and pulled out his trident, crouching close to the ground. He wormed closer to the crater the machine laid in, the scorched earth, the sparking wires, the gleaming walls. Everything smelled like fire, like melted metal, sulphuric and burning in his nose. Through the small window of the door, Doc saw movement, raising his trident in threat. Water fell like thunder, the rain pounding on the ground and putting out the flames that decorated the blackened earth. The door didn’t open, which made Doc’s anxiety spike, but when he kicked the button that controlled the door and took two big steps back, all he saw was a villager.

A villager wearing Grian’s face.

Doc grinned.

The door shut before the villager walked out. Doc got to work securing the machine, finding any exposed wires and putting an end to their sparking. He made sure the machine was stable and the earth around it wasn’t going to open up a blackhole and swallow it before kicking open his elytra and flying back towards his Hermitville house as fast as he could.

Soon enough, the land around the structure was portioned away from the rest of the Hermits. Doc had begun to dig out a hole to hide the machine in when none other than Scar crashed next to him, elytra torn and shredded and obviously defunct.

“Oh-ho-ho! Doc! Ugh, hello my friend!” The man blabbered as he got to his feet. Once he recollected where he once and shook the ache out of his bones, he looked at the machine, the giant hole, and Doc. “What’s this?”

“Nothing.” Said Doc, guilty, ducking his head and continuing to shovel in hopes Scar would just walk back to the village and repair his elytra and never speak of this.

“Nothing! Doc, Doc, Doc! I know something fishy is happening when I see it!” Scar laughed. He began clambering into the hole Doc was standing in and looking around. “What is this machine? This hole? I saw the black and yellow stripes flying over here! I want in. I’ve been so bored since the Civil War. Give me something. Anything. I can help! I’m a great builder. I can be really scary when I want to!”

Turning to face Scar properly, Doc snorted. Scar had never gotten too deep into NHO business and stayed on the sidelines during the Civil War with Cub. What Doc did know, was that Scar was a talented, passionate guy. “Scary, huh?”

“Oh, _terrifying_.”

“I’ll tell you what, Scar.” Doc drawled. He let his pickaxe drop and sat on an outcrop of rock, kicking up his feet. Putting his arms behind his head, the plates of Doc’s arm recalibrated and his eyepiece’s shutter closed and opened. He knew it unsettled certain Hermits, especially if he didn’t react to the strange tingling it sent through him. “I have big plans. That machine up there? It’s bad news. Dangerous for the Hermits. So… if you and I can keep it under wraps, we’ll be heroes.” Doc didn’t miss how Scar’s eyes lit up. “I’ll do the redstone. I’ll take care of all the science and even some of the building. All you have to do is keep the Hermits _out_.”

“I can do that.” Scar said a bit too quickly. “Oh, can I build _anything_? Doc, this is going to be so cool.”

“I’ll need a hanger first.” Doc said, nodding towards the machine. “To hide this bad boy in. And you know, we might find more… questionable items laying around throughout the next few months. If that happens, we’ll need more space. So, a few hangers, a gate to keep the Hermits out… What do you say?”

“Oh I am loving this.” Scar beamed, sticking out his hand.

The smirk on Doc’s face only grew as he stretched out his metal hand. He and Scar shook on it, and Doc gave Scar his elytra to go home, grab some supplies, and get to work on the facility asap.

\----------

It wasn’t long until Grian came searching for his time machine. Doc had rallied some ravagers to drag it into the hanger with Scar and when he caught Grian inspecting the charred earth where he had left it, Doc felt something curl in his stomach as he held up his trident and walked towards Grian, teeth bared. “Area 77 personnel only.”

“AH! Oh, Doc.” Grian gasped, clutching at his chest. “Oh, um. Doc.”

It took everything the creeper had not to smile. Instead, he let out a growl.

“Doc, buddy old pal old friend! You haven’t happened… to see anything…” Grian pulled at the collar of his sweater and gestured weakly towards the empty hole in the ground where his machine once stood. “I’ve just been, you know- do you- how do I go about this-”

“I know exactly what you are.” Doc said. He had never seen a man go so stock still in his life. All of the colour drained from Grian and Doc could see his hands begin to shake where they were frozen at his sides. Grinning, Doc took two steps closer, trident in hand. He was at least two steps away from Grian, but the man was tilting up his chin like Doc was holding a sword to his neck. Baring his teeth in his best bad-guy grin, Doc rolled his shoulders back. “I know just what you did, Grian. You might want to stay out of Area 77 for awhile.”

“I-I don’t- how did you-” Grian took a shuddering breath and Doc began to realize the builder looked a bit more scared than he had any right to be. “I’ve done, I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“ _No,_ ” Doc hissed. Grian flinched and now the creeper was really confused. “You’ve brought a dangerous, illegal machine to Hermitcraft. We’ve confiscated it so no one will be hurt. Now, Grian, get out before you get filed away too.”

Once Doc mentioned the machine, Grian deflated. He was just happy his machine wasn’t totally gone, right? Obviously. Yeah. What else could the guy have been hiding from the Hermits. He looked too innocent to be much of a threat. The man was still pale, still shaking, and looked ready to fall off his feet. Doc felt a little bad, really, watching the terror drain from Grian like someone had opened a faucet in his brain. Grian had never done anything to Doc, so why did the creeper feel the need to get under his skin? All Grian had done was beat Doc in a war, but it wasn’t like Grian had killed his closest friends. And yet, at the mere mention of Doc knowing something from Grian’s past, the man looked like he was going to throw up and faint.

Like the gentleman he was, Doc gave Grian an easy out. “Scram.”

The human flicked open his elytra like the flimsy wings were a part of him, spammed the rockets in his hand, and disappeared.

With a grunt, Doc hooked his trident to the sling over his shoulder and walked back into the hanger. He had no time to worry about Grian’s near-break down when the server was under attack from strange things. Ducking into the hangar Scar had just built (it was quite a looker), Doc found himself frowning. Did… Did Grian belong in Area 77? Was it that anything that was weird, new, creepy, different- did anything falling into any of those categories belong in Area 77 until they could prove they were no threat? Did Tango, a demon with razor claws, forever growing horns, and spotty magic? Did Xisuma, a Voidkind missing his proper form? Did Ren, a werewolf who had taken to hiding himself where he could hurt no one else once a month?

Did Doc belong in Area 77?

Did Docm77 classify as the monster he was trying to defend everyone from? The metal arm, the hard-wired brain, the broken creeper instincts, he was nearly sure if he saw similar traits in anyone else he would throw up the alarms.

He was growling at himself. Doc was standing in the poorly lit hanger, looking at Grian’s time machine, the poor redstone that could only expand with the development of Area 77, growling over his inner turmoil like some child. He was frustrated, okay? He didn’t know what he was doing or why and maybe he just wanted some control but Doc really did feel like he was losing it and-

“Heello Doc!” Beamed Scar’s voice from behind him. The creeper took a breath to steel himself and turned to Scar, flashing him a smile. The pirate hopped closer, covered in concrete dust and the sweat of building and Doc’s eyes widened when he saw a leaf sticking out of the collar of Scar’s shirt. “I _finally_ got the big hangers done! So you can load all your stuff in there- woah- Doc!”

The cyborg was holding Scar’s shirt in his natural hand. The builder looked scared, more so when Doc heaved him a few inches off the ground, and flashed a nervous smile as Doc sniffed at the leaf on his collar. Scar’s big eyes watched intensely as Doc’s metal arm recalibrated and plucked the leaf off of Scar’s shirt with his metal claws. Once Doc was sure the leaf wasn’t attached to Scar’s skin, the human was set gently on the ground and Doc dropped the leaf with a huff. “Sorry.”

“Uh, yeah, it’s fine.” Scar gave another uncomfortable smile and looked at the leaf. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Doc said, walking out of the hanger with his teeth grit together. “I’ll go get the ravager and start moving the time machine. If you need help with anything else just ping me... Thank you, Scar. Good work.”

Of course, this is when the hippies came in.

Seeing his best friend on the rise of the hill, wearing something absolutely ridiculous, grinning with Grian was not how Doc wanted his day to end. He didn’t want to use the word _betrayed_ , but he certainly didn’t feel good about it. Ren was playing on his characters, voice smooth and stupid and teasing in the worst ways. Asking him to play nice and relax and Doc wanted to smack the smirk off his face, growl until Grian’s pleased look was gone.

“Get off Area 77 property, stinking hippies.” He hissed.

“Relax!” Cried Ren, or Renbob whatever-the-who. “You need to _relax_ , brother.”

“I am not your brother.” Doc snarled. He took out his trident and watched Grian take a step back, but Ren’s relaxed grin told Doc he knew the creeper wouldn’t hurt him. Doc hated how much he was right. “I said get off Area 77 property.”

“We just want to discuss a truce. Be nice, relaxed neighbors. There’s no need for violence, dude.” Renbob said.

The trident was slammed into the ground. Rain started pouring and thunder clapped and a tree nearby was struck by lightning. Grian took a full step back and Doc smirked when he saw Ren’s eyes widen behind his sunglasses. “Leave before you’re locked up in a contamination chamber. I’m giving you a chance.” He made sure to level his glare at Grian, watching the man go pale again. Man, this was fun.

Renbob and Grian left pretty quickly after that. Even though his cybernetics weren’t weak to water like they used to be, and Doc loved his trident, the creeper still didn’t love standing out in the rain and he knew Xisuma didn’t like it when he made it rain for hours on end either. So, he pulled the trident out of the ground and shut off the rain, grunting at the retreating forms of his friends. Doc began walking to the biggest of the hangars, smelling the rain on the concrete of the runway. He felt a trill run down the back of his neck and the creeper wanted to forget the events of the day that had passed. Questions about his own creation, Area 77, and Grian were taking too much room in his head and as Doc walked into the hanger and looked at the rows of shelves Scar had set up for strange items, the creeper frowned about what may sit there. What he would make to fill and test everything that would mar them.

His partner often returned to his base for rest. Doc was okay with that. He knew his all-nighters were a dangerous habit and that he didn’t have to do these things to himself. He also knew that if he hadn’t set up a bed in Area 77, he would never sleep again, and Doc slipped into the room that even Scar didn’t know about.

It was trojan at best. It was nothing like Bdubs could make. It didn’t have the hum of Etho’s contraptions. There was no flare of Beef’s builds. It was just a small room with white walls, a white floor, a white ceiling. An endrod for light, a grey bed, a chest, and a table for Doc’s notes was all the room had. That’s all the creeper needed.

He kicked off the jeans he wore. They were uncomfortable to sleep in and Doc never did get used to the scratchy material. His trident leaned against the wall, his inventory was emptied into the nearby chest. Doc very slowly shrugged off his lab coat and looked at the ruined fabric pooled in his hands, so loved he wasn’t sure if he could call the colour white anymore. When Doc pressed it to his nose, he could still smell the jungle. Or maybe, he could still smell the NHO. Doc wasn’t sure. He curled up in the bed, knocked over the endrod, and tucked the coat under his chin as he forced himself to sleep for the first time in three days.


	8. Chapter Three

Area 77 took off. As the hippies grew in their ranks with a redstoner thrown into the mix, as the giant area was boxed in by Falsewell, as stranger and stranger things began to appear in the world, its influence grew. Doc walked down the long hallways of the warehouse, examining what they had found. The Salmon Man’s enclosure passed, so did the flowers from the hippie commune, or the pineapple that Cub had brought. There was even the strange parachute bomb they had found in the shopping district.

And as terrifying as a flying bomb was, Doc didn’t care about any of the contraptions or enclosures he stood before the budding scara junior.

The thick green vines moved like they had a mind of their own. The leaves were sharp and Thorned like blades or weapons. The bright pink and orange petals opened and closed as if it were a mouth. The plant was still inside of it’s enclosure, but Doc had seen it move. He could see how fast it could grow, too, and he opened the airlocked door and stepped inside. Cutting off the main flower, its petals opened wide, nearly the size of Scar, was too risky. Getting close to what _had_ to be a carnivorous mouth was not on the top of Doc’s list as he sneered at the green vines beginning to curl towards his ankles. What wasn’t risky, however, was cutting off the budding flowers that grew along the plant’s vines.

The buds were about twice the size of Doc’s fist, growing orange petals capsuled by green leaves that would fall once the petals spread and began to flower. The plant was dangerous, and the strange, and the bright green reminded Doc a bit too much of the jungle he came from. Cutting off the buds was a good way to test exactly what it could do and what properties it had while stemming the growth of the dangerous flowers. Opening a bag and setting it on the floor, Doc carefully stepped closer with his diamond sword.

He slid the flat of the blade around the vine, the edge slicing through the stems of the flowers. Each bud that fell off, Doc was quick to throw into the bag. The work had to be done fast lest the remaining flower get any ideas, so once the buds were taken care of, Doc slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out.

The bag was sat on his desk and Doc began to make sure his redstone set up was at it’s peak. His brewing stand was hissing around the latest blaze rod. Doc took out one of the buds and sliced it in half, peeling apart the petals and leaving the leaves in the bag. He had done enough tests on the leaves, but Doc was getting curious about the bright leaves and their ability to move. Using his claws, Doc peeled and tore the leaves, putting some through his brewing stand, testing its reaction to redstone, how the juice affected natural matter. A deep scowl was set on Doc’s face as he watched the juice of the plant eat through a porkchop.

For a moment, only a moment, Doc wondered if it was a scara plant that had taken his friends. He felt his stomach twist at the thought of it and decided to move onto his next item for the day. He didn’t want to look at the green anymore.

To make sure the buds didn’t get any bright ideas, Doc burned them. He threw the ash of the fire into the dirt outside once he resurfaced from his lab. Drifting down the halls, Doc instructed the cranes of the warehouse to shift over to the nuclear reactor Renbob used to power his van. Doc didn’t want to admit how good it felt to take something from Ren after the quote unquote betrayal, even as a joke. The clang of pistons rumbled through the warehouse as the cranes carried the reactor to his lab, the sound following Doc like a cape as he strode through Area 77.

Back in his lab, the creeper was testing the reactor’s power. When attached to redstone, the power could run much farther than the average redstone block. Rigged to zero-tick farms, the pistons moved so quickly it made Doc dizzy and the sound was near painful. Doc was scared to take it apart in case he couldn’t reconfigure the powerful piece of technology, and so, for now, it was left on his desk. Doc wanted to measure the rate of energy over a long period of time and his lab was the best place to do that. The machine could be torn apart once it proved to be of no use to Doc. Considering it’s redstone power, Doc was interested in using it for his next project.

It was obvious that the annoying trespassers also known as the hippies would be gone the second Doc handed over the time machine, but he was more than happy to keep it to himself. Once Scar had built the basement of the warehouse and increased the security like he promised, Doc and more than happy to move the time machine into a more secure location and build a secondary lab around it. The podium the time machine stood on was made of obsidian, layered by quartz, unbreakable by most magic. Doc hooked several pipes to the inside of the machine to test the air quality in case there was any… time travel-y particles, as Scar put it. Several of the main components were taken out so if anyone (Grian) was to even get _near_ to the machine, or someone (Scar) was to trip and hit something by accident, it wouldn’t work.

As Grian proved, it was near impossible to guess where the machine could land. The time period in which it landed was easier to measure, but that meant nothing to Doc if he ended up in the wrong location. Say he landed two worlds away from his friends- traveling back to the jungle would take up too much of the creeper’s time to delve into the jungle and save the NHO.

Doc stood in front of what he now called _his_ machine. He saw it as his opportunity, his literal do-over, his second chance, his hope. Doc knew that if he could figure out the time machine, perfect it in the way that Grian failed, he could correct where _he_ failed. Unfortunately, time travel was a lot more complicated than Doc though it was, and the inner workings of the machine wasn’t at all what Doc had assumed. There was no redstone. Nothing. Instead, where the compass and the clock should have had redstone, was something purple.

Even though he was underground and the man was no where near, Doc found himself trying to look towards the hippie commune. He had never seen this strange material, and while Doc knew he hadn’t been a Hermit for long, he doubted anyone else had. And yet Grian, this mysterious builder who nearly passed out when Doc claimed to know his past, built this machine with this magic.

Now that Doc thought of it, Grian didn’t know redstone at all.

The machine was complicated, magical, and not at all of this world. Doc quickly turned on the air vent to clean out the area and took a break, afraid of what effects the other-worldly powder could have on him. As he resurfaced, taking deep breaths of the fresh outside air, the creeper was only glaring at the camp over the horizon. What was Grian hiding?

Alas, before that train of thought could go very far, Doc could hear rockets in the sky. Scar twisted down surprisingly artfully for his often-clumsy demeanor, landing next to Doc and giving the creeper a grin along with a large bag. Over the progression of Area 77 the two had gotten pretty close, edging on Ren and Doc close, and Doc could read the absolute mischief on the builder’s face. Not only that, but the man had recently gotten himself into trouble with the Vex and Doc could see the blue magic dusting his hands.

That was the story of how Doc ended up in a stuffy suit that was far too uncomfortable, under the sun that was far too hot, holding a weapon that really should not be exposed to the average Hermit- Doc should have run some tests before agreeing with Scar to use them this was so dangerous what if the Vex magic had lasting effects was Scar okay what half of his soul did he have to sell for these was he going to die or was something bad going to happen Doc wasn’t really sure what was going on-

Scar shot False with the weapon. The girl’s eyes rolled back into her head and she fell on her side, sleeping peacefully. While Doc took care of the strange spacecraft she was harboring, Scar carried False to the nearest bed. It was a pain to get the spacecraft out of Falsewell and when Doc finally opened it, he was not expecting to find Ren(bob) inside at all.

Another blast of the Vex weapon took care of that issue. Doc locked up the spacecraft and carried Ren all the way back to the hippie commune. The creeper was beginning to really worry about the hippies and them getting too close to Area 77. There was potential for them to really hurt themselves and Doc felt that hole in his chest begin to throb as he looked at Ren’s sleeping face, the wilted flower crown, the stained clothes, the stupid sunglasses. He didn’t want to lose anyone else. Area 77 was there to protect the Hermits and to… perhaps find the lost ones. Doc wasn’t sure what he would do to himself if his closest friend was hurt in the process.

Doc had been in the hippie commune only a few times, mostly watching from afar or sneaking around to the point where he never saw much. He walked into what he knew to be Ren’s RV and laid his friend in bed. A carefully written note was on Ren’s chest, the words just cold enough to hide the scribe’s identity but make the words a clear warning to stay out of Area 77 for his own safety.

No one saw it when Doc grabbed the flower crown off of Ren’s head and tore through the green vines used to keep its shape. No one saw the creeper toss the broken crown into the firepit and set it ablaze with a flash of lightning, courtesy of his trident. No one saw Doc’s composure break for only a second, shaking running through the man’s exhausted body, or the moment of hesitation he had looking at Ren’s RV before he opened his elytra and flew away.

Well. Grian saw it, but Doc didn’t know that.

Doc returned to Area 77. Scar wasn’t around and it was quiet. The sun was beginning to set, but Doc didn’t have time to think about that. Instead walked away from the runways and into the trees, searching for his latest project.

The time machine was impossible to decipher. The purple magic wasn’t something Doc had ever seen before or new anything about and all of his tests on the substance had ranged between useless and inconclusive. The only way Doc was going to crack the code would be to ask Grian, or perhaps Xisuma, but that wasn’t an option in Doc’s mind. Was he going to give the machine back now that it had been proven useless to him? No. Doc didn’t trust Grian with it at all and increased the security on the chamber it was held in with a door that Scar died to at least ten times. The creeper pretended he was still working on it so no one would sniff out his real project.

The portal in front of him growled. The big purple eyes twisted and swirled and tried to lure Doc in but the creeper knew better than to listen to them. The diamond blocks shined in the setting sun and left large, nebulous patterns on the grass where they reflected the warm light. The portal wasn’t very hidden, but Doc knew that most of Area 77’s enemies were more focused on his hangars and the warehouse. While they did hold some pretty important stuff, nothing was more important than the infinity portal.

Doc was testing its limits. It was obviously no nether portal, there being no obsidian in sight. What the creeper needed to know was if it was safe to walk through and where it would lead. He didn’t even try to hide the hope he felt that he could manipulate the new portal as he worked on it, using pistons to push unwilling cows into the purple eyes and camping outside of the portal for hours to see if the bovine would return.

For the first time in maybe… ten tests, one did. Doc bolted to his feet and grinned, quickly throwing a lead around the cow’s neck and running tests on the particles it had picked up from wherever the portal led. Unfortunately, the brewing stand, the redstone, and ever other test Doc could perform proved that the world the cow had entered wasn’t the answer to all of Doc’s questions. There was nothing revolutionary, nothing that promised the return of the NHO, nothing that gave Doc hope. That hole in his chest was beginning to swallow him, locked away in Area 77 the way he was. The creeper was more or less counting the days until it consumed him.

That meant Doc went home that night empty handed. No progress made.

And yet, when he returned in the morning, there was someone standing in front of his portal.

Doc’s eyes widened and a snarl built in his chest. His first instinct was _attack, protect_ and that’s exactly what he did, summoning his trident into his hand and throwing it towards the person in front of the portal with all of his might. The trident pinned the human to the diamond of the portal, the prongs perfectly aimed to capture his neck without piercing any skin. The human cried out, Doc messaged Scar, and the creeper approached with a grin.

The portal _worked._

Another blast of the Vex weapon later, and Doc and Scar had a human sitting in a containment cell. He was scared and didn’t remember much of anything and neither of the Hermits recognized him. It was none other than Xisuma who noticed a blip in the code, a new member he did not invite. The Admin arrived in Area 77 with a scowl. Doc set his jaw just as firm and Scar was doing his best not to drop the character he had made, Captain Angry Eyes. Eventually, they lost the stand-off, and Xisuma took the ex-Hermit Keralis out of the Area 77.

But, when Xisuma was explaining to Doc and Scar why they needed to let Keralis go, Xisuma promised them he had been a Hermit since their first days. He had disappeared after a bad injury years ago. Keralis tried so hard to prove the story, but with his memory so spotty not even Xisuma could trust it. All Keralis knew was he had tried to escape the Nether and then, four years later, he emerged out of the infinity portal.

When Scar finally opened the chamber, Keralis and Xisuma hugged so tightly Doc was waiting for the sound of broken bones. It was clear that Xisuma was trying not to cry. The usually very stoic Admin gave his friends a nod and left with Keralis, claiming there was too much to catch him up on. As Doc watched them leave, as Scar’s sheepish smile fell into a yawn and the builder left to work on the planes he was building, Doc felt that hole get deeper, more painful, _colder._

Of course, that’s when Bdubs began falling out of the sky.


	9. Chapter Four

“Have you seen Doc?” Asked Ren. He was still dressed like Rebob, minus one flower crown, standing in the middle of Area 77 with Scar.

The Head of Security was shuffling in place, face flushed, looking around like the creeper might appear. Doc had been acting strange and Scar didn’t know what to do about it, especially with his rival standing in front of him with big, worried eyes. Deciding to use the professional route, Scar puffed up his chest. “Why?”

“I’m worried about him.”

Scar immediately deflated. “Me too.” He sighed, rubbing his eye. “He’s been… in his lab. Toting around. Every now and again I’ll bring him something to eat or try to get him into bed but- I can only do so much, you know?”

“No, no I understand. I’ve dealt with redstone Doc a many a moon.” Ren frowned. “Do you think he’d kill me if you took me to him?”

“I’m going to be honest with you Ren- yes.”

“Amazing.” Ren rubbed his face and sighed into his hands, looking around the giant airspace with a deep-set scowl. “At least- has he- has he found anything out? Does he know why Bdubs is falling? Is like something to do with Keralis, you know, coming out of the portal? Is he alive then?”

Scar was beginning to get nervous about just standing in the middle of the airfield. He nodded to the end of the runway where Keralis had built his house and he and Ren began to stroll down the runway, ducking around the planes as they went. “I haven’t heard anything from him. It’s nothing new though, because I’m just security. Doc is the madman, I’m the guy who keeps as his madness here. Um… he’s been… saying their names, though. And hissing, like a lot. When I walk in, I startle him and he hisses. But he’s always murmuring about the… the jungle. He had this notebook too, but I’ve never seen what’s in it.”

“A notebook huh?” Ren smirked, looking up at Keralis’ frankly beautiful house as the inkling of a plan came to fruition. It was clear to Ren why he and Grian clicked and he agreed to be a hippie so readily: they were both pranksters and knew what they were doing when it came to causing chaos. “And how hard do you think it would be to get that notebook?”

“Ren,” Scar whined.

“C’mon, my dude! I believe in you!”

“I’ll- I’ll _try_ , okay, but I promise nothing! You’re sending me on a death mission, Rendog!”

At that, they parted ways. Ren flew back to the hippie commune to tell Grian about his latest intel, and Scar started towards the infinity portal. He had seen it a few times, the shining diamond frame, the swirling eyes of the magic that almost watched you, the random redstone that was littered around it by Doc’s experiments. Being around the thing was incredibly unnerving and Scar hated being near it unless he absolutely had to, especially when Doc was on one of his worst tangents yet.

“If I just… okay Hans, I’ll feed you in a second- what does Bdubs like- building. I can’t just- Doc, you idiot. Uh, where is Bessie… Franz! Stop- chewing- okay. Yes. Go to sleep, lazies. What about Beef? Etho would respond to redstone- this is useless. Bessie, c’mere, I need- oh you stupid cow! Okay- there- yes. Good. I just need- oh god.”

“Doc?”

The creeper spun around. He didn’t hiss this time, but he did not look good. His short hair was managing to fall into his face, his sunglasses were lost to the wind and the bags under his eye were dark. Doc looked pale and exhausted and he was shaking. There were two foxes curled at his feet, one chewing on his sunglasses and the other eating a handful of sweet berries. Doc had his most recent piston machine loaded up with a cow, the poor bovine aimed for the portal. “What are you doing here, Scar?”

“I came to check on you.” The Vex frowned, stepping closer and looking around some more. He spotted the red notebook laying on the ground next to the piston machine. “When was the last time you slept, man? Have you eaten?”

“I’m fine,” Doc said, a bit too fast. “I’m so close to figuring this thing out. G’night Scar. Have a good day.”

“It’s noon.”

Even from ten feet away, Scar could see the shutters of Doc’s mechanical eye twitch and glitch and click. Doc peered at the sun and looked back at the portal with a scowl. “Huh. Could have sworn the sun was setting. Anyways- thanks for the concern man, but I’m fine. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Sure.” Scar said, stepping closer.

This time, Doc did hiss. “ _Don’t_ touch anything.”

Seeing it was too dangerous to grab the notebook and run, Scar decided to drop a piece of fish on the cover. He often carried a bag for treats if Jellie decided to follow him as he worked and Doc paid Scar no mind once he turned around and began prepping a brewing stand. Scar flashed Doc a smile just in case, said goodbye, and sent detective Jellie to retrieve the evidence once he was out of ear shot (and found the cat of course, she was never where she was supposed to be).

In reality, Jellie was retrieving the fish, but when she picked up the meat, she happened to grab the notebook too, so it was fine. Scar sat on roof of a hangar and pet Jellie in his lap as she purred happily and enjoyed her treat. He flipped through the notebook, trying to make sense of what Doc had written. There was another language spotted with English, as well as weird drawings of crazy redstone contraptions, trees, and the faces of the NHO. Reading it, Scar felt like he was a bad friend. He felt sad and scared for his friend’s wellbeing as he looked at the crude and childish scrawl. One page had a drawing of the four of them, and underneath was a messy logo for the NHO. It made Scar laugh and smile and hurt a little, so he tucked the notebook away to show Ren.

Then, Jellie fluffed up and jumped out of his lap, hissing. Scar looked around for the threat, but by the time he was to his feet all Scar heard was screaming.

There was a splash from Keralis’ base. Scar started running.

As he pulled himself up the cliff, voices began to ring over the empty space. It was hard to hear them over the pounding of Scar’s heart and the bait of his breath but he continued his climb because he had to _know_.

“There’s so much to tell you Bubbles!”

“Keralis, this place is amazing…”

“Oh, shpank you! But that’s not the point, so-”

“What’s that down there?”

“Oh, that’s a bit of a long story, uh,”

“It’s Area 77.” Scar said, stopped on the deck. He dusted himself off and gave the runways a glance before turning back to the two builders. “Bdubs? Is that- are you- this is, you’re fine, right?”

“AH!” Keralis and Bdubs shouted. They leaned on each other to gain their wits before Bdubs grinned. “It’s me baby! My head hurts and I’m exhausted and I’m confused as anything but I’m back!”

“Oh my goodness.” Scar stepped forwards and brought Bdubs into a hug. He had been talking to Keralis bit by bit, apologizing for almost killing him and trapping him as an alien when they first met. They were relaxed with each other now, and the man was smiling with his biggest eyes yet as Scar held Bdubs tight. “I’m so happy to see you dude. I can’t even tell you.”

“I’m happy to be here!” Bdubs grinned. “What’s happening?”

“We, we don’t know.” Keralis replied. “It’s been a weird time, Bubbles. Shashwammy has been working around the clock and Doc has been going a liiiittle cuckoo. And, get this, apparently, I was missing for four years! Then I just… reappeared, I guess, and same goes for you! No one knows whats happening.”

“Doc.” Bdubs frowned. His eyes went wide and he began looking around the house. “Doc! Oh goodness, where’s the jungle!?”

“Bdubs, dude.” Scar frowned. “We’re not in the jungle anymore. We left that world after it took you guys.”

“Guys?” Bdubs’ voice was small. “Take? Who else did the jungle _take_?”

Keralis and Scar looked at each other. Keralis had been told the story, but he didn’t know the full details. Scar knew what everyone else did- that Doc nearly went crazy searching for the NHO after they disappeared one afternoon and he had been mourning the only way he knew how- blocking it out. But there Bdubs was, the man everyone thought was dead. Wow, Scar’s head hurt. He wasn’t prepared to deal with the mess laid out in front of him. He wasn’t sure how Bdubs would react to hearing his friends were gone, but something had to be said. “Etho and Beef. We left that world once Xisuma told us he couldn’t find your code. We thought you were dead. Everyone thought you were dead.

“Me?” Bdubs said nervously. He tried to laugh and scratched at his arm. “Nothing can kill Bdubs. And, and Etho, and Beef, they were _fine_ , I just- I went for a walk- I… I went for a walk-”

Keralis gave Bdubs a hug. “It’s okay, Bubbles. You’re here now. You can stay with me for awhile, okay? You’re okay?”

Bdubs hugged back. He looked dazed, like he wasn’t sure what was happening. Scar took out his communicator and sent Xisuma a private message that Bdubs was in Keralis’ house before stuffing Doc’s notebook in his back pocket. He would worry about that later, but for now he was more concerned about the friend in front of him.

There was the _woosh_ of teleportation and a very tired looking Admin in Keralis’ base. He looked at the scene in front of him and his eyes went wide. Xisuma felt a stab of guilt run through him and his tongue got caught in his throat. Bdubs was alive. And if he was alive, Etho and Beef had to be too. And Xisuma left them in that jungle, thinking they were dead.

“Bdubs… oh goodness me my friend.”

“Xisuma!” Bdubs gasped, pulling away from Keralis and giving his hug to Xisuma instead. The Admin very carefully gathered the man up in his arms like he might leave before giving him the tightest squeeze he could manage.

“Oh goodness me, Bdubs. I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m so glad you’re okay.” Xisuma gasped out, holding Bdubs back an arms length. His visor blurred with ones and zeroes and everyone in the house was quiet as Xisuma did his work. “Not an… inch of corrupted code on you. What- how- what happened to you my friend?”

“I don’t know.” Bdubs said quietly. “I have no idea.”

“Okay. That’s okay.” Xisuma pushed back Bdubs’ hair, frowning at the lack of his classic bandana. “Alright. You should rest. Keralis, you keep an eye on him and catch him up to speed. I am going to go look through some code- I am _incredibly_ glad you’re okay Bdubs. We will talk more once I know what is going on, I promise you. I missed you very much. Who else knows you’re back?”

“Just us.” Said Scar.

“Let’s keep it that way for now. Once we have answers, we tell the others.”

“Okay Shashwammy. Bubbles, I’ll finish giving you the grand tour.” Keralis smiled, putting his hand high on Bdub’s back. The other could only nod, following Keralis upstairs where the man promised a very comfortable bed and maybe something to eat.

Xisuma sighed and gave Scar a weary smile through the visor of his helmet. Scar smiled back, fishing the notebook out of his back pocket. “I… took this from Doc. I’ve been worried for him and- well- Ren got me to steal this. I was thinking you would be able to decipher it better than me with the whole- you know, dyslexia.”

“Oh- um, thank you Scar. I’ll take a look at it.” Xisuma said. He tucked the book away and raised an eyebrow at Scar, who stood on the middle of the room like he had more to say, shifting his weight, eyes flitting around. “Yes?”

“Can we- I mean- I think, perhaps… we should tell Doc that Bdubs is back.” Scar pleaded. “He’s not eating… or sleeping… and he’s rambling a lot. If you look at that notebook, you’ll see what I mean. The man is losing it, Xisuma. He needs to know Bdubs is okay.”

“Tomorrow.” Said Xisuma wearily.

“Okay.” Agreed Scar.

They departed. Xisuma went to his base, and Scar went to the hippie commune. He wouldn’t tell them. He wouldn’t tell them. No! He was going to tell Ren he got the notebook and then he was going to go home and sleep for a thousand years. It was fine. It was fine. Scar circled over the center of the camp before touching down gently, looking around the silent camp with a frown. This did not feel fine. In fact, the empty camp felt very off, too quiet. There wasn’t even any outdated music playing.

“Uh… guys?” Scar called.

“What are you doing here?” Impulse asked. Scar yelped and jumped out of his skin, backing away from the RV Impulse came out of. “Aren’t you… wait. Did you touch anything? What did you touch?”

“Nothing!” Scar gasped, putting up his hands. He realized how suspicious he looked, still dressed as Captain Angry Eyes. “Nothing. I touched nothing. I- have a- a message for Ren. A nice message! I promise.”

Impulse looked unimpressed. “We have communicators for a reason.”

“Brother to brother message?” Scar squeaked.

Impulse’s face split into a grin. “Why didn’t you say so? He’s in the hole under Grian’s RV!” Impulse’s face fell. “Wait- no- they’re- uh- in- space? Oh god.”

Smirking, Scar walked over to RV he guessed was Grian’s from the colour scheme. Not only did he discover the hidden cave the hippies were so fond of, he found Ren and Grian digging at the walls. They both screamed when they saw him, which was funny, but Ren was quick to relax.

“I have the notebook!” Scar beamed.

“Wait, really?” Ren smiled. “Amazing, my dude! Where is it?”

“Oh, I gave it to Xisuma after we talked to Bdubs.”

Ren went quiet. Grian looked between Scar and Ren with a confused look in his eye as Scar took a sharp breath, realizing what he said. He looked at Ren with big, scared eyes and let out a sharp breath. “Don’t tell Xisuma I told you. I wasn’t supposed to tell you. Bdubs is alive.”

The hippie took a sharp breath. He swallowed around the lump in his throat and Grian watched as he shuddered. When Ren spoke next, his voice broke. “What?”

“Bdubs is alive.” Scar said softly. “I’m… just as confused as you are. But he is. He’s at Keralis’ base. He’s alive.”

“We need to tell Doc.”

“Xisuma says tomorrow.”

“Well- sc- f- whatever to what Xisuma says! Doc deserves to know!”

“What am I missing here?” Grian asked.

“Bdubs was- _is_ a Hermit. He and two others were… lost. For a long time. They’re who made Doc.” Ren explained. Grian’s eyes widened and Scar rubbed his face. “Scar and I recently found out that one of Doc’s big things in Area 77 is his attempt in trying to bring them back.”

“That’s why he wants my time machine?” Grian asked. The man looked a little sick.

“It’s anyone’s guess.” Ren replied.

“No,” Said Scar. “I _know_ that’s why he wants your time machine.”

“Well we have to stop him!” Grian cried. “Messing with time is dangerous. Getting a few diamonds back is- like- kicking a rock compared to saving three people!”

“In the morning.” Ren and Scar sighed and Grian tried to contain his fuming. Maybe he was being a little insensitive because he never knew the people who were lost. It was harder to detach yourself from a situation when you knew the people are in danger. So, for his friends, Grian swallowed his worry and his anger.

“Okay. You guys go in the morning.”


	10. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some TW I'll list in the end notes :)   
> I hope a bit of a longer chapter makes up for it

The morning came slow. Scar slept in the surprisingly comfortable hippie camp and once Xisuma came to collect them, they went to get Bdubs. That meant that Scar, Ren, Xisuma, and Bdubs were walking through Area 77, looking around tepidly like the creeper might appear at any second.

“This is absolute bananas.” Bdubs said, looking at the builds. “And impressive.”

“Thank you.” Said Scar, looking only a little smug.

“Focus.” Xisuma pleaded. If he wasn’t wearing his helmet, he would rub his face until it hurt. The Admin was tired and not prepared for this at all, but he also knew the other Hermits wouldn’t wait for permission to tell Doc one of his best friends was still alive if he waited any longer.

“Scar!” Doc’s voice echoed from the trees. “I can hear you! Where is my notebook! I’ve been- _searching_ \- all night! You were here, so I know you have it!”

Bdubs froze where he was. The man looked pale all of a sudden, swallowing hard as he took in the knowledge that his friend, one of his closest friends, the only one left, even, was standing through those trees, changed by the months apart. Ren stayed behind with him as Xisuma and Scar continued through the trees. Ren put his hand on Bdubs’ shoulder, giving him a firm squeeze and nodding to Scar when the builder looked back. Bdubs looked to Ren as if in question and Ren sighed and pulled Bdubs a little closer before looking back to the trees were Doc’s voice continued.

“That stupid book has all of my notes! I can’t keep working without it- do you know how much time you’ve cost me? That jungle is still standing and it still has them and I need my notebook to stop it!” The creeper snarled. Even though Scar and Xisuma emerged from the treeline, Doc was still tearing through his chests. “I won’t ever find them at this rate if you take my stuff when I’m about to make a break through!”

“Doc, my friend. I have it.” Xisuma said, voice soft. He looked at the portal with wide eyes, this being the first time he had ever seen it. Even as an Admin, even as a _Voidkind,_ Xisuma wasn’t sure how the portal in front of him was possible.

The creeper’s head shot up. His arm clicked as it moved, the plates scraping together with small, very annoying squeaks. The shutter of his eye flickered for a moment as the creeper’s gaze adjusted and Doc snarled, baring his teeth and unsheathing his claws in a silent threat. “Area 77 personnel only. Get him out of here, Scar, and give me my notebook!”

“You’re damaged.” Xisuma frowned, looking at the dented plates of Doc’s mechanical bicep. “You look sick, Doc. What’s happened to you? You have to take care of yourself.”

“Not- not until I find them!” Doc shouted, teeth grit together. He really did look like death, his lab coat stained and shredded at the bottom, his hair longer than it ever has been and unkempt, sunglasses missing to show the darkness under his eye. Since Doc never liked the feeling of shirts, where his ribs showed on his chest was clear to see. As emancipated as he was, everyone took a step back when the creeper summoned his trident. “I can sleep when I’m dead or when I’ve found the NHO! If Keralis can come back, so can they, so give me my notebook and GET OUT!”

“Doc.” Scar gasped out, unsure what to say. The creeper dropped the trident like he had hit himself with lighting and looked over Scar’s shoulder with a haunted look in his eye.

“Oh. Maybe I do need sleep.”

“Doc.” Bdubs said. His voice was small and worried. “What did you do to yourself?”

Ren and Bdubs stood along the treeline, looking at Doc like he was a ghost. Maybe he was. He felt like headed, but at the same time he could feel his head pounding with the worst headache of his life (and that’s saying something, considering he was once missing part of his head). His mechanical arm registered nothing but pain but Doc didn’t have time to fix where a zombie had hit him so he left it. The creeper was hungrier than anything but that didn’t matter because he was losing his mind. Doc was sure that ache in his chest had swallowed him whole, thrown him into insanity, because Doc saw his friends here for an intervention, and he saw the ghost of Bdubs with them. Maybe Bdubs was here to take Doc to whatever was after life. The creeper didn’t know for sure until Bdubs broke their ranks and ran forwards.

“You idiot! You absolute stinker- I cannot believe you!” Bdubs shouted, pulling Doc down to his height in a hug. The creeper was frozen, eye wide and scared. For those watching, they could the two pieces in the creeper’s mind connect and his arms wrapped around Bdub’s back, lifting the man off his feet. Doc held Bdubs in the tightest hug he could manage, pressing his face into the human’s shoulder and gasping for air against his shirt. Bdubs could feel the grip in his ribs and coughed, but he hugged Doc back just as tight. “Oh, Doc, you are so _stupid_.”

“ _Bdubs_.” Doc gasped, and the creeper started hissing. Doc took a deep breath, and everything smelled like the jungle. He pushed down the panic that gripped his heart because everything also smelled like the NHO and his hissing dissolved into aborted purrs as the creeper somehow tightened his grip.

“Forgot- _wow_ \- how strong Etho made you.” Bdubs choked out. “Can’t breathe- dummy, Doc!”

The creeper dropped Bdubs in a second. The human gasped for air and Doc grabbed him by the shoulders, his eye bulging out of his head. “You’re alive.”

“I’m alive.”

“Oh, wow.” Doc murmured, promptly fainting into Bdub’s arms. The human yelped and the other three rushed forwards to help him support Doc’s weight. Xisuma lowered Doc to the ground and Ren was quick to kneel next to him, searching for a pulse around the creeper’s next.

“I don’t feel anything.” Ren said, breath caught. “Xisuma. Xisuma there’s nothing there, do something. Did he have a heart attack? What’s happening. Xisuma, do something!”

“Creepers don’t have circulatory systems.” Bdubs said distantly. The three gathered around Doc looked to him with panicked eyes and Bdubs shrunk back. “I had a similar reaction when we first made Doc. I tried to see if he was still alive- um- creeper’s just need warmth. A, a fire would be good.”

“The hippie commune.” Scar said. “Is that okay, Ren? There’s a fire pit, and food.”

“That’s a great idea my dude. Who can carry him?”

“I can.” Xisuma said. He stood and slung Doc over his shoulder, grunting as he steadied himself and pulled his elytra open. The creeper hung like a dead weight, completely limp and lifeless. “I’ll fly him over. Scar- flank me, just in case. Ren, lead the way. Bdubs, follow us. You should be there when he wakes up.”

The group took off, all in different states of panic as they rushed towards the hippie commune. As Ren flew, he told Grian and Impulse to start a fire before tucking his communicator away and blasting his rockets. Bdubs could only follow, heart seized with confusion and worry. What had Doc been like in the NHO’s absence? How long had Bdubs been gone? Was his friend okay?

Elytra’s twisting and rockets being packed away, the group landed at the firepit in the hippie compound. Impulse and Grian were stood by the small fire, feeding it with bamboo and sugar cane used as tinder from the farm Grian had been working on as. They moved out of the way when Xisuma landed, stumbling just a bit. Ren fell next, thanked them for the flames, and Scar and Bdubs landed behind them. Xisuma laid Doc on the grass next to the fire, scowling at his broken arm, the arm of which was twitching minutely.

Ren’s gaze fell on the offending machinery and he kneeled next to Xisuma as he began unbuckling Doc’s elytra and tugging on his prized lab coat. “Doc showed me how to do repairs on it. I’m not sure what I can do with the dent but I can fix whatever wires are broken in there.”

“Alright. Thank you, my friend. Impulse?” Xisuma looked over his shoulder and gave Impulse a smile. “Perhaps you and Scar get some food for Doc from the garden. Bdubs, you’re good to just stay where you are. As are you, Grian.”

Nodding, Scar and Impulse walked towards Ren’s organic farm while Ren went in search for a piece of wool. Xisuma sat next to Doc heavily, sighing softly and giving Bdubs and Grian A Look. “Bdubs, Grian. Grian, Bdubs. Grian joined us a few months ago. Bdubs has been with us for a long time. You’re both amazing builders may I say- so make nice.”

“A pleasure.” Grian smiled.

“It’s great to meet you.” Bdubs said. He shifted around the steadily growing fire and watched Grian feed the flames until Bdubs’ attention was brought back to his ailing friend. How long had Doc been without sleep? Without food? The builder hesitated before he reached forwards and brushed back Doc’s hair where it had become tangled and unkempt. “How has he… is Doc… will he be okay?”

“Well, respawn from exhaustion or hunger is probably one of the worst, so he’s been saved from that. I won’t say he’s at perfect health, but he isn’t as dire.” Xisuma gave Bdubs a smile. “Your fire idea certainly helped.”

“Good.” Bdubs said. “What… what happened in that jungle?”

“I don’t know, my friend.” Xisuma replied, sad and soft. He looked at Doc and to Bdubs and sighed. “Perhaps there was a mob? Or some strange potion effect. I haven’t the slightest idea how you got here, but I’m glad. I really am glad. And once Doc isn’t on death’s doorstep anymore, I can promise you the man won’t let you leave his side. He was deathly worried.”

“I can tell.” Bdubs smiled.

“Hey, my dudes. Found what I needed.” Ren said, sitting next to Xisuma and artfully folding his legs underneath himself as he sat. The Admin shifted out of the way so Ren could have enough room, the hippie carefully prying apart the dented plates. Even in his sleep, Doc’s face twisted into that of pain. Bdubs frowned as he noticed, looking at the firm grimace left on his friend’s face. Ren sighed softly and began cleaning the inner wires with the wool he had found as he spoke like Doc was awake. “I’m sorry my dude. Wow, you really let this get gunked up, huh?”

Moving closer slowly, Bdubs looked over Ren’s shoulder. He had never been much a part of Doc’s repairs other than handing Etho a spare tool or running into the mines for a few more pieces of redstone dust, but he could already tell the signals were too weak. “He needs more redstone in him. That’s why it’s causing him so much pain- the receivers aren’t picking up anything so they’re going into uh-oh mode.”

“I’ll run and find some.” Grian said, quickly getting to his feet and running away from the RVs.

“What would that even be caused by?” Ren asked, using his long hippie nails to scratch away at the rust that had built on the hinges. It was more precise than a pair of shears, he reasoned.

“Rain. Swimming. Being stupid.” Bdubs shrugged. “Etho may have made some improvements but redstone is never 100% water proof.”

Impulse and Scar soon returned with arms full of vegetables. Impulse set up the cauldron over the fire and fetched a bucket of water as Scar began to cut the vegetables into easier-to-eat pieces over the pot. Grian returned with the redstone, and Bdubs showed Ren how to lay it along the woolen wires intersecting throughout Doc’s arm. The commune was quiet other than the crackle of fire and murmured conversations they were all sure to forget. The creeper in the grass did not move, even as Ren shut the plates of his bicep where the worst of the damage had been done.

Peeling open the forearm of Doc’s cybernetics; Ren bit the tip of his tongue. All of the springs were meant to mimic the tendons of a human arm, meaning there was a lot, and they were all very delicate.

“Don’t over think it.” Bdubs said as if reading Ren’s mind. “He’s asleep anyways. He won’t notice if you mess up.”

Xisuma chuckled at Bdubs’ cheeky grin and Ren rolled his eyes fondly. Impulse and Scar began handing out bowls of fresh soup to those who weren’t working. Upon spotting Grian slowly distancing himself from the group, they sat on either side of him with bowls of their own. Impulse elbowed Grian and took a sip. “What’s the matter, dude?”

“Just-” Grian huffed and looked at Doc’s still form. He looked better than when he first arrived, less pale, but he was still horribly skinny and absolutely exhausted looking. “Will he be okay? I mean, what’s going on? I feel like I’m going insane. People who were supposed to be dead are coming back and Doc is… on the edge of some scientific breakthrough? Does this happen every year? Mumbo never mentioned anything about this.”

With a small laugh, Scar clapped Grian on the back. “You’ll get used to it.”

“I can’t tell if that makes me feel better or worse.”

“Eat your soup.” Impulse chuckled, watching Ren and Bdubs agonize over Doc’s arm. Xisuma was silent as he sat in the hippie commune, watching in case anyone was put in peril danger once more, but he didn’t feel the need to step in. There wasn’t much he could do then anyways, other than wait for Doc to wake up and hopefully stop trying to kill himself by not eating or sleeping. Distantly, the Admin wondered if there was a command he could use to make a Hermit sleep. Surely.

Ren brushed away the dirt and rust that had built up within Doc’s arm. Then, he lay small bits of redstone dust over the exposed wires. He was frustrated about those he couldn’t reach, but Bdubs said the signal would travel better even if it wasn’t at perfect working condition. Once the arm was shut and had been dealt with, Xisuma stepped up to help hold Doc in a sitting position so Ren and Bdubs could check where the redstone signals attached to his cranium.

“This is the worst part.” Hissed Ren as he opened a panel on the back of Doc’s head. “Ugh. _Ugh._ He grumbled, silently thanking Bdubs and cursing him at the same time as the man held up a torch. It wasn’t like Ren could see anything fleshy, but he knew it was _there_ , and that was the gross part. Ren quickly cleaned the receivers of both the input and the output wires and stuffed the bottom of the compartment with the redstone that had fallen out since the last time Doc had gotten repairs. Happily, Ren shut the panel and opened another one next to Doc’s mechanical eye. The shutters were cleaned and the receivers were polished and updated. Ren thought to himself that he would replace the red glass next time as he shut that panel too, locking them shut. “Should I try cleaning his anchor?”

Bdubs hissed through his teeth. “He barely lets Etho touch it.”

“It has to be cleaned eventually.” Xisuma said as he laid Doc back down. “He clearly isn’t doing it himself.”

“I trust him not to kill me, he’s my bro.” Ren said, rather bravely for someone who had thought Doc was going to kill him the day before, and he began scraping at the gunk that had built up on the large metal ring that held open Doc’s chest cavity. It replaced the bones of his shoulder and attached his arm to his chest, half under his skin, half out. It was hard to clean and always looked rather painful, but Doc didn’t complain about it. Magically, Ren’s shaking hands were kept under control just longer enough to polish the joints and clean the metal while treating the raw skin around it with a few drops of a healing potion. Doc was still completely still, but his face was no longer twisted into a grimace.

Ren flopped into the grass with a relieved sigh and had some soup. Bdubs took his share, curled up next to Doc’s head. He looked at his sleeping friend, at the bags under his eye, the ribs sticking from his chest, and frowned. Bdubs didn’t want to think about what the world had been when he was gone but it was clear he would have to if he was ever going to reconnect with Doc. The builder watched as the arm recalibrated, the plates lifting before sliding back into place, each finger curling before going flat again.

Everyone held their breath.

Doc didn’t wake up.

Bdubs threw more wood into the fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for starvation, unhealthy coping mechanisms, a teeny bit of body horror if you count a metal arm body horror  
> Hope everyone enjoyed and I didn't cross any lines. If I did, please feel free to comment and I'll make some adjustments.


	11. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some similar TW as the last chapter. This should be the last of it for now. Enjoy!  
> Thank you for all the support :')

He was hot, a fever running over his body. His head hurt and his stomach cramped around nothing and the creeper squinted as he opened his eyes. There was a moment of panic when he saw nothing, before he realized that it was dark. The sky was black, dotted by twinkling stars. Doc took several deep breaths to quell the pain and the shakes that were making his way through him. He was sweating, he was sure of it, sweat beading on his forehead as he grit his teeth against the nausea of being awake again.

Doc was awake again. Where was he? The grass was sharp and prickled his skin and the creeper forced himself to sit up, clutching his stomach with a small groan. His arm was working again. Doc curled each finger before grinning, looking up to realize in delayed horror that he was in the hippie commune and didn’t have his lab coat.

A fire crackled next to him, the ash on the stones of the firepit evidence that the fire had once been much larger than what it had dwindled down to in the recent hours. Scar was across the fire, curled up in a ball as he drooled into the grass. Ren was curled up behind him, an arm tossed over his shoulders. Ren’s left leg was kicking and Doc chuckled at the image. There was snoring, but Doc knew neither of his friends snored and guessed it was coming out of one of the stupid RVs. When he took a deep breath, he smelled flowers and fire and the void, meaning Xisuma had been here recently even though the Admin was no where to be seen. When Doc breathed out, he caught the scent of something else.

Head reeling, Doc looked to the log next to where he was laying. How he hadn’t realized, he didn’t know, but Doc took some comfort in the fact that he hadn’t gone completely insane when he imagined Bdubs there to take him away.

Bdubs was curled up in front of a log, his head perched in the most uncomfortable way, making his usual snoring even louder. His hair was falling into his eyes since his bandana was gone, but Doc’s didn’t need to see his whole face to know it was him. He still wore his white shirt, as ruddy as it may have been, and his beaten-up jeans. He was still Bdubs, and Doc didn’t know how to process it as another wave of nausea hit him and he felt his weight shift unexpectedly.

Flopping down with a soft groan, Doc smiled to himself with Bdubs’ snores hitched. The man took a deep breath and stretched out, shoes nearly in the fire, working out the crick in his neck, when he saw Doc’s eye fluttering. “Doc?” He asked, voice rough and deep with sleep.

“Bdubs.” Doc smiled to the sky.

“Oh, Doc, you _stupid_.” Bdubs hissed, voice low in a whisper as he shot up. The man suffered from a bit of blood rush and swayed on his knees, but once he got his wits about him Bdubs scrambled over. “Soup- where is that soup?”

“I am…” Doc took a deep breath. His ribs shuddered and his stomach cramped. “ _so_ happy to see you…”

“Yes, that’s amazing,” Bdubs grumbled, grabbing a large cauldron and a wooden bowl. “you need to eat, Doc, you stupid. You’re so dumb. You have to take care of yourself.”

Doc’s eyes fluttered shut and he sighed, smile still on his face. “You’re _alive._ ”

“Sit up, you big dummy, and eat something.” The builder commanded, helping Doc back up. The soup was lukewarm at best but Bdubs didn’t have time to move and reheat the entire cauldron by himself, so Doc would have to suffer through it.

“Stomach hurts.” Doc moaned, dropping his forehead to Bdubs’ shoulder. “Don’t wanna eat.”

“Your stomach hurts because it’s cramping around nothing, you dolt.” Bdubs put his hand on the back of Doc’s neck and carefully pulled him away, putting the bowl to Doc’s lips. “Eat, okay? Just a little. For me.”

Tilting the bowl as slowly as he could, Bdubs used the hand on Doc’s neck to make sure he didn’t pull away. Doc’s eye scrunched closed but he took three sips of the soup before Bdubs pulled it away. The nausea that Doc had been feeling increased ten-fold and he wretched, his friend quickly putting the bowl down and taking most of the creeper’s weight as he shook. Bdubs rubbed Doc’s back as the creeper took deep breaths and tried to cease his shaking, and his headache, and his cramping. Once Doc stopped the worst of his quivering, Bdubs brought the bowl back. Doc tried to push it away but eventually he relented, taking slow sips until the bowl was almost empty.

Bdubs helped Doc lay back down. The creeper’s face was screwed up in pain and Bdubs hated it but he knew Doc would feel better come morning. He threw more wood onto the fire and laid next to his friend, curling up. Even if it hurt and being on his back would be much more comfortable, Doc rolled onto his side so he could face Bdubs. The shuddering creeper shut his eye and Bdubs smiled, putting his hand in Doc’s before going back to sleep himself. “G’night Doc.”

The fire at his back, his friend before him, Doc felt his chest rumble with a purr. “Bdubs.”

\----------

The second time Doc woke up, he didn’t feel half as sick. The man wasn’t cured, far from it, but when he sat up it didn’t feel like his brain was leaking out of his ears, so that was an improvement. Doc rubbed his face, hissing under his breath as his arm recalibrated and the receptors twinged. It was early morning, the sun just rising, and Doc looked at his arm in the low lighting. It looked… fine. Doc examined the campsite, smiling at the still sleeping forms of his friends, and suddenly realized he had left Ren and Bdubs to try to fix his arm after he had left it unattended for too long.

Doc was going to be hurting for awhile, wasn’t he?

Either way, the creeper was smiling. Ren was laying sprawled out, one leg over Scar’s and his arm under the other man’s head. Scar was tucked into the crook Ren’s arm made, just entangled as they were when Doc woke the first time. When Doc looked next to him, whatever cramps he had left were pushed down by a cool feeling a lot like relief. Bdubs was sprawled out on his side next to Doc, his hands tucked under his chin like a little kid. Doc’s lab coat had been used as a makeshift pillow for him when he was passed out. The creeper grinned wider.

A door squeaked on its hinges and Doc looked up. The shutter of his eye quickly adjusted to the light around the RV in front of him and he opened his hand to summon his trident, distantly realizing it was too far away. He deflated when Grian stepped out of his RV, ropes of flowers dangling around his neck, his usual get up stained with dirt and pocketed with holes. The hippie smiled, pushing his unwashed, too-long hair out of his face. “Morning Doc.”

“Wh-” Doc cleared his voice as it caught. “Why am I here?”

“You were sick yesterday. Everyone brought you here so you could rest by a fire and get some good, organic food.” Grian grinned, all lopsided and toothy and cocky. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.”

Doc narrowed his eyes. “Is this some trick, hippie?”

Grian hopped down the steps of his RV and held out his hands as he walked towards the cauldron Doc had failed to notice. “Wouldn’t think of it, my dude.” He winked, heaving the thing up and setting it back over the fire. He sat down crossed legged next to Doc and began sprinkling tinder over the embers. Once it caught, he layered on wood from the wood pile nearby. Doc let them sit in silence, keeping his glare on Grian as they sat.

When Grian spoke again, the fire was big and crackling. “You don’t know what you’re messing with, Doc. Don’t use the time machine.”

“Are you threatening me?” Doc growled.

“No.” Grian said. “I’m warning you.”

Bdubs woke with a gasp, like someone had shaken him a bit too hard to get him out of sleep. Doc flipped his attention to him, grinning when Bdubs rubbed his face and looked up at the morning sky. Bdubs sluggishly sat up and smiled back, shifting closer to the fire as he shivered. “Morning Docm.”

“Hey man,” Doc said, letting Bdubs lean on him as the human yawned and rubbed at his eyes.

“I haven’t slept that well in…” Bdubs frowned at the fire. “In a while.”

Doc curled his arm around Bdubs’ shoulders and held him a bit closer. “Scar and I will have to make some barracks in Area 77, huh?” He grinned, and Bdubs laughed under his breath.

The chatter had stirred Scar and Ren awake, the two untangling themselves with giggles. “Trying to get a piece of the ladies man, huh?” Ren poked Scar in the ribs and the builder pushed Ren’s smiling face away as he curled up in front of the fire.

“Oh, forget it. I’m a cat person.” Scar teased.

As Ren pouted, Bdubs giggled at their antics and Grian smiled, quiet where he watched the day unfold with the sun. The cauldron had heated up enough for everyone to have another bowl of soup, the group laughter over Scar complaining about Ren kicking in his sleep. Impulse emerged from his RV and sat with the group for breakfast, chatting with Ren about some redstone he had been working at for the party stage behind the farm. Doc chipped in every now and again, even if he started every sentence with “Not that I want to help you stinking hippies-”. The usually loud Hermit that was Grian sat silently, feeding the fire and eating his soup as his friends caught Bdubs up to speed.

Even though Grian had never met the man, Grian was glad Bdubs was back, mostly because it meant that Doc would stay away from the time machine. He should have known better than to use that magic in Hermitcraft. The rest of the Hermits were in danger now, especially Doc, and when Grian thought about it he could swear he felt a hand on the back of his neck. He looked at the creeper’s beaming face, the happiest Grian had ever seen the man, and hoped this would be enough to keep him away from the time machine before Grian could bust into Area 77 and finally destroy it.

“Thank you for taking care of me.” Doc said, pulling Grian out of his head. The usually stoic creeper looked almost… bashful. “I really appreciate it. You’re all very good friends.”

“Of course, my dude!” Ren said loudly. He hopped up and happily jogged around the fire to fling himself over Doc’s shoulders in a heavy-handed hug. “We’re all your friends and of course we’re going to make sure you’re okay. We care about you, dude, even when you go a little psycho.”

“I agree with Ren! We’re always going to be there for you.” Scar smiled. “I’m glad you’re not too mad at me for failing the whole- _secure area_ thing.”

“Oh, well we can talk about that later.” Doc chuckled, patting Ren’s arm where it was still slung around his neck. Grian just smiled, because he never really had seen Doc so at peace. His first interactions with Doc involved Iskall shoving the man off a fifty-foot-tall mob farm thinking he would fall into the river when actually Doc woke up in the bed half a biome away. The first time they had a proper discussion was when they discussed the rules for the prank war. But here, sitting in the hippie commune, the one place he swore not to be, with Ren, Scar, and Bdubs, the man looked happy. “I do need my notebook back though.”

Even though he had no idea what this notebook entailed, Impulse waved his hand. “Take a break, Doc. Just because you can sit up without falling right back down again doesn’t mean you’re fit to pull an all-nighter in Area 77. The hippie commune is always open- even to The Man.”

That made Ren and Grian laugh, the over-excited of the pair finally letting go of Doc to sit between Scar and Impulse again. Doc just shook his head, something awfully fond in his eye. “I promise no redstone for today. I have to build Bdubs a place to sleep. It won’t take long, there’s plenty of space in the hangars. You won’t believe what we have in there, Bdubs, I can’t wait you show you. There’s something I’ve been working on that I think you’ll be mega impressed with, and when Etho-”

“Uh, actually, Doc.” Bdubs spoke up. The firepit went quiet at the mere mention of Etho, but pure silence washed over the group when Bdubs interrupted, even if the fire was still valiantly crackling. Doc’s easy smile drifted downwards as Bdubs shrunk into himself, turning his eyes away from Doc’s mismatched ones to instead pick at a hole on the knee of his jeans. “Keralis and I were talking about renovating the village over the hill together. He already has a barn set up there- and a few farms. I was going to build a house once you were back on your feet.”

“Ah,” Said Doc. Everyone could see him tense up, and Grian watched in a sort of disgusted wonder as the man’s mask went back on, his stoic personality a second skin. “Good! There are a lot of new materials here for you to explore. Ren, do you have my notebook?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Uh, in Renbob’s RV, hold up.” Ren twisted himself backwards over the log he, Scar, and Impulse sat on until he tripped over his own limbs and stumbled towards the RV. Those around the fire giggled at his clumsiness, and Scar rose an awkward conversation out of the fire about the soup still bubbling and the organic farm being much better than he thought it was. By the time Impulse and Grian had chipped in to sing its praises, Ren was handing Doc his notebook. “There you are, my dude. Xisuma took a look through it, I hope you don’t mind.”

Doc’s frown deepened and he gave Scar a small glance, the builder quick to advert his gaze. Doc stood up and Ren took a step back, smoothing down his shirt in an attempt to be nonchalant and walking back to where he had been sitting. The creeper could feel everyone watching him and it felt like the first time he woke up on spawn island, the other Hermits whispering and staring and waiting for him to do something stupid. He didn’t mean to when he grimaced, really, but it had become routine to run from situations like this one.

The eyes in the back of his neck only became sharper when Doc picked up his lab coat from behind Bdubs. He was painfully aware of his ribs showing as he adjusted the stained lapels to cover the worst of it before tucking the notebook in one of the pockets safely. His elytra were a few feet away with a pouch of redstone and a handful of wrinkled rockets that Doc must have had on him when the group came looking, so Doc belted up his elytra and put the redstone in his other pocket. The silence that had settled over the camp didn’t flinch when Doc grabbed the rockets, kicked open his elytra, and flew away before his stoic face could crack.


	12. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiny TW in the endnotes for those who want to be careful :)

The pattern Doc had become so fond of, locking himself away in Area 77, picked right back up where it left off. The second he was back in his lab; the creeper was agonizing over his notebook. He dusted several pages with gunpowder in search of which Xisuma may have looked over or paid most attention too, but all tests proved futile and Doc found himself remembering that Xisuma almost always wore his gloves. Since that didn’t work, Doc checked the spine very carefully to see if any pages had been removed. Then, he made sure none of the ink had been blotted away.

Luckily, his notebook was unharmed. Doc wasn’t too pleased that Xisuma had read through it either way, tucking it in the pocket closest to his chest and walking back towards the infinity portal.

Hans and Franz were right where the left them, both of the foxes jumping to their feet and letting out excited whines as they ran circles around Doc’s feet. The creeper sighed deep in his chest and dropped to his knees, letting them crawl into his lap, their tiny paws planted on his chest, their kissing getting a bit too excited as Doc began to laugh. “You useless danger foxes. Didn’t even keep the intruders out.”

Whining, Hans licked Doc’s hand in apology. Franz just smacked Doc with his muzzle and began running in circles around him before finally deciding to curl up at his knee. It was hard to stay mad at the wild bundles of orange fur for long, so the creeper sat with them for awhile and gave them the cuddles and attention they had been missing out on. Once Doc decided it was enough and he was covered in orange and white fur, he grabbed sweet berries from the nearby chest and threw them to the foxes so he could focus on his work. Hans and Franz were more than happy to curl up with their prizes, chittering as they went.

As they gorged themselves on sweet berries, Doc began dismantling the redstone around the infinity portal. He pulled up the rails with his pickaxe and threw the twisted metal away. He kicked at the redstone lines until they were useless. He untied the lead from Bessie’s neck, rubbing her snout with a small sigh as her big, crooked eyes looked up at him. “That’s a’ girl,” Doc smiled, pulling her out of her confining pen. “You go on now.” He pat her hindquarters and the cow grazed her way into the treeline of which she came from. Doc tossed the lead towards his chests and pulled the hurriedly placed fence posts out of the ground, making a pile of broken wood pieces next to his chest. He went up to his piston contraption, rendered useless by the lack of redstone. Doc brushed what he could salvage off of the machine into the redstone pouch in his pocket and tossed that towards his chest too. He raised his pickaxe to begin dismantling the rest of the machine when he heard footsteps on the forest floor a few feet away. It was easy to brush them off as Bessie until he heard Scar’s voice.

“Uhh… Doc? Buddy?” Said the Head of ‘Security’. “Just coming to check on you- did you know that Bessie escaped?- oh.”

The usually loud, messy area around the infinity portal had been cleaned up, for better or for worst. Hans and Franz were eating, even though Scar fed them more than not because Doc forgot too often. Doc didn’t have the crazed look in his eye he often did, and he looked at least somewhat better for a few bowls of soup and a night of proper rest. He put his pickaxe down from where it had been poised to smash the glass of his contraption, raising an eyebrow at Scar and waiting for him to speak more.

“You’re cleaning up!” He grinned. “Oh- wow, that’s great! Uh, okay- cool! I’m going- I have- I have stuff to do! So, you know, if you need me, I’m- I’ll be around! This is great Doc! Okay! Have a good day man.”

Scar left just as fast as he came. Doc scoffed and shook his head, opening the palm of his hand. His trident, the metal smooth from use and cool from the crisp air of the morning landed in his hand with a small _tunk_. Doc hooked the trident onto his back with an additional clip he had added to the harness of his elytra before continuing to clean up the area around the infinity portal. He took down the machine in front of it, smashing the glass and moving the heavy stones and dismantling the pistons. Next was the worst part, removing the chest monster that had grown in front of the portal.

Filling up his arms with the wood he had gotten from taking down the fences, Doc flew towards the storage system he had been working on in the back of the hangars. He did this with everything he had kept at the infinity portal site, moving pieces of redstone, to random building materials, to different items he could throw through the portal without missing too much. But those experiments were done now, and soon the area around the portal was completely empty other than two sleeping foxes.

Knowing Ren and Bdubs had done their best to fix his arm, Doc walked to his lab in silence. He sat at his desk, brushed the left-over gunpowder away, and quickly cleaned the surface of his desk. When he reached towards his anchor, his natural hand hesitated. Doc shook himself off and opened the locks, listening to the pressure that held the arm on release with a hiss. The mechanics inside clicked and snapped as the arm detached. Forced to lean over the table so the cables attached to his head wouldn’t pull, Doc put the arm down and reached for those next, unplugging each one until the arm was no longer a part of him.

The redstoner sighed softly as he looked at the magnificent piece of art. He used a torch to heat the metal just enough to move the dented plates into the right shape. Once the dent was gone and the metal was solid again, Doc tied the anchor of the arm to the ceiling with a lead and a hook so he could open every single one of the plates, all at once. He cleaned where Ren hadn’t reached and fixed the redstone where Bdubs had forgot. He polished the joint of the elbow, the wrist, and each of the knuckles. Once the arm was shining, glowing faintly with the redstone power, Doc lowered back to the table and held the two anchors together.

This was the worst part, getting it back in place with one hand. The creeper grit his teeth as he pushed the arm into the wall and forced his shoulder against it. Pulling on the first lock of the anchor, Doc sighed heavily as the interlocking mechanism ground together with a crunch. It was on, at least, and he closed the other two locking mechanisms before reaching for the cables of the limp arm. Doc opened the panel in the back of his head and shuffled the cables around until they clicked into place. Cleaning the mechanisms of the back of his head was worse than anchoring his arm back to his body, so Doc ignored the back panel and swapped out the glass of his lens.

He calibrated his arm and his eye and Doc felt ten times better as he chewed on a golden carrot on his way up the half-finished sorting system. He was still tired, but Doc could tell from where it ached it wasn’t the lack-of-sleep tired he was used to. With one last attempt to push the feeling out, Doc continued his work.

Doc put down three shulkers. He filled one with food, rockets, and workstations such as a crafting table; one with armor, weapons, elytra, shields, potions; the third with as many redstone components as he could fit; and another with building materials. They were strapped to his belt and Doc double-checked the durability of his current arsenal before flying back to the portal. He landed heavily, pat the pocket which contained his notebook, and leaned down to ruffle Hans’ and Franz’s ears.

“Scar will come find you soon.” He promised, smiling when Hans licked his face with a whimper. “I know. I know. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but you stay. Good danger foxes. Good danger foxes.”

He slipped them more sweet berries, ensuring they would keep themselves busy, and turned towards the infinity portal. The purple eyes set into his soul, swirling and growling and shining. Doc could feel them judging him, knew the stares were going to kill him, but the creeper took a deep breath to steel himself. He could do it. Bessie went in and came out several times and she was fine. Doc would be okay. Whatever was on the other side of that portal couldn’t be too bad, could it? It wasn’t like he would burst into flames the second he stepped through.

Doc swallowed and took a deep breath. He summoned his trident into his hand, held a shield in the other, and jumped into the haunted eyes of the infinity portal.

_Docm77 has left the world_

\----------

“Jellie!” Scar called. “Jellie! C’mon, girl. Jellie!” Scar called through the trees, snapping his fingers. “It’s dinner time! You never miss dinner time!”

Scar didn’t want to admit how nervous he was getting. Jellie wasn’t in the warehouse or any of the hangars, she wasn’t curled up in any of her usual places or basking in the sun, and the longer Scar went without finding her the more worried he became. Was she mad at him for not giving her enough cuddles that day? Scar had been building all day and the only reason he knew what time it was, was the sunset. He hadn’t checked his communicator in hours, but he would do that after he found Jellie. It was very catlike to disappear for a few hours, but very un-Jellie-like to miss dinner time, which was half an hour ago. Scar had walked from the hangars all the way into the trees, calling for Jellie, holding a fish in his hand for bait. When he heard whimpers in the distance, Scar broke into a sprint.

He came to the infinity portal. The air was still, the portal gurgling, the abused earth around it empty of the usual redstone. Empty of the usual Doc. Hanz and Franz were circling the portal, whimpering and whining as they paced. The stems of sweet berries were littered about, and in Franz’s mouth was Doc’s chewed up sunglasses. None other than Jellie paced with them, brushing up against the foxes occasionally. She was purring as loud as ever, stopping to lick Hans’ ear when he sat down and whimpered at Scar.

“Wh…” Scar crouched and immediately had a lap full of anxious fox. Jellie didn’t even give her usual jealous hiss, just bumped up against Scar’s side and licked his wrist. Scar sat cross-legged and gave Jellie her fish before petting both of the foxes whining in front of him. He scratched under their jaws and behind their ears and gave Hans a hug. “What’s going on, you two? Where’s Doc, huh?”

Hans’ ears pressed against his head and he whined, circling the portal, nose held high in the air as if he was scenting. Scar’s eyes widened as his worst fear was somewhat confirmed and he placed Franz on the ground to come closer. “Is Doc in there?”

The fox curled up between Scar and the portal, hiding his face underneath his tail. Jellie padded over and laid next to him, pressing her head into his shoulder. Franz trot over next, sitting next to them and looking up at Scar pointedly. The builder rubbed at his face and groaned. He was struggling to believe that Doc would be dumb enough to use a dangerous portal, but here they were. Scar bit his lip and looked up at the roiling purple eyes, unsure what to do next. He knew nothing about the portal, nothing about what Doc might be trying to do, all he knew was that one of his friends had just entered another dimension that had never been explored before.

Scar collapsed next to the furry animals and drew Jellie into his lap. Her soft fur and comforting purrs did the best they could to calm him down, but Scar’s hands still shook as he fished out his communicator and sent Xisuma a message.

_Docm77 has left the world_

_Rendog: ???_

_Goodtimeswithscar: X can you come to area 77?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Body horror. What it was in the last chapters, pretty small. Either way, stay safe! Thank you for reading as always my friends.


	13. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wasn't going to update today. but then mochii112 just HAD to write me something very sweet and good and everyone PLEASE go check them out and give them some credit and love. Thank them for this early update.  
> In fact, the content of this chapter is kind of funny considering just what mochii wrote ;)

Doc let out a gasp. It felt as if his chest had seized because someone was crushing him. The purple haze that had filled his vision ebbed away tall waves until he was dizzy and the world appeared to be upside down. The creeper fell to his knees in the sand, gasping for air as he pressed his forehead into the warm beach. Once his chest stopped constricting, once his head stopped pounding, Doc swayed to his feet and wiped the sand off his face. He crouched only to grab his shield, palm open to receive his trident, the mental landing warm in his palm with a _tunk._

The air was still, held around him like it was offended he dare disrupt the eerie peace that had become of the jungle. As Doc recollected himself and took in the air he needed, the world seemed to pulse around him, as if it was unused to another presence and was leaning towards him. The songs of the jungle were quiet, no birds, no wind in the leaves, no laughter of the NHO. For a second, Doc worried he was completely alone in this old world, that all his work was for not, but the man took a deep breath and the beach smelled like home.

When Doc opened his eyes next, he checked behind him. Right on the lip of the water was the infinity portal, embedded in the sand, a promise of safe return to Hermitcraft, but in that moment Doc had more important things to worry about.

In front of him were the barracks. The dark wood Bdubs had used was swallowed by greenery, held up by vines, blanketed by moss, hidden by leaves. Doc was pretty sure a young tree was growing out of the side. But still, it was home, and he only hesitated a little bit as he walked towards the crumbling building. The wood had sunk, so Doc had to duck through the doorway to get inside. There were holes in the floor and sunlight filtered in through there the planks of the ceiling had drifted apart. Doc was scared to step any further into the building- he was a heavy dude and the old planks didn’t look ready to hold his weight.

The bunkbeds looked better condition than the rest of the building. Moss had begun growing on the blankets, but the supports were still there, and the beds were unmade as always. Doc sighed happily, the thick smell of plant life swaying through him. The creeper took the risk and walked further into the barracks. The planks underneath him groaned, complained, sunk, but did not break. With two carefully calculated strides, Doc walked over to the bunkbeds. He saw the blankets twisted with the way he used to sleep and he chuckled under his breath, sitting on the bed. The frame whined and the bunk above groaned, but it held his weight and the flowering leaves next to it merely shuddered.

The dark wood, the vibrant greenery, and the gentle light raining form above was not was Doc thought it was going to be. He thought coming here, he would be rejuvenated, the world would be okay again. He expected Beef and Etho to be sitting around the firepit that had been long buried and he would rip the vines from their bodies and drag them home.

But that is not what was happening. The ache in Doc’s chest deepened. It was hard to breathe. Doc just shut his eyes, tried to block the fragmented memories out, and got to his feet. He had work to do.

Walking out of the barracks, Doc let his paws sink into the sand. He dropped his trident and his shield and sighed heavily as what used to be his home sunk back into his skin. Cracking his neck, recalibrating his arm, Doc let it sink in. He knew this jungle like the back of his hand. What he hadn’t explored with the NHO, he knew from his time with his very first pack. He had tried to forget the paths, the trees, the smell of the jungle that had borne him but now Doc was taking time to remember. He thought about the beach of which he stood, and which way he would have to walk to find the mesa. To find the ocean. Which river would lead him to the heart of the jungle. Which tree was tall enough to see over the horizon. Which path would be safest to walk as a humanoid.

Doc knew all of these things, his body tugging him in the direction, but there was only one thing he cared about and that was finding Etho and Beef.

And they were the two things in this jungle that Doc didn’t know how to find.

Doc began laying down the shulkers he had brought with him. He wanted to save the food as long as he could- a proper meal could be what Etho and Beef had been missing for the past months and maybe the food could revitalize them to fight against what the jungle had made them into. The elytra and rockets were for emergency only. At least three health potions were on him at a time, with two regeneration potions and a strength potion. Doc tucked away the redstone for now, promising the resources later, and began pulling the building materials he had chosen out of his bag.

The decision process was careful. What would keep the jungle away from him and his build? What could burn, but be safe? Doc looked at the barracks, the life he had never wanted to leave, and frowned about the disservice he was about to do to Bdub’s build before he began to dig underneath the foundations.

As carefully as he could, Doc filled the ground underneath the house with green concrete dust. Above Doc’s head, the house groaned and shifted as the mud it had settled in was shoveled away. Doc used scaffolding to keep it up as he poured bag after bag of concrete powder into place. The air was thick and hard to breathe and Doc knew he would be coughing for weeks after this but it had to be done. As Doc worked backwards out of the hole, he used buckets of water to solidify what he left behind. When he finished, at least two meters of concrete stood between the foundations of Bdubs’ build and the evil earth of the forest. The creeper pulled himself from the ground and filled the hole he had crawled out of with dirt.

Now above ground, Doc pulled out several stacks of netherack. He used a pair of shears and a heavy axe to bring down the plant life around the barracks. When he first struck the trunk of a tree, he waited for the earth to swallow him or a vine to throw him into the nearest river, but Doc was lucky that neither of those things happened. He cleared out a ten-foot radius around the barracks (leaving the tree growing out of the side because Doc was worried the building would collapse without it), revealing the concrete he had just laid down. Doc swept away any dirt, grass, clippings, and sand that had fallen on the concrete and began constructing the walls on the border of it.

The wall was made of netherack, standing at twice his height. It was ugly, the whole thing was ugly, but it was safe from the dangers of the jungle. Once Doc was sure the wall was structurally sound, he set the outer side on fire with a flint and steel. As the walls crackled and growled, Doc returned underground to make a piston door for the entrance. It didn’t take him long, a simple one by two door, and Doc made sure to reinforce the hole that held the redstone so no vines or roots could worm their way in and ruin in.

What he had thought to do was done. The creeper looked at the sun, which red noon, above the barracks and scowled at the sky he could see. So, he put down a furnace, filled it with coal and sand, and built a glass dome on top. Was he being a little paranoid? Probably. Did he truly care? No. He was taking the precautions necessary to survive the jungle.

Doc opened the piston door with his trident. He stepped inside of tiny, fortified base and sighed at Bdubs’ barracks.

Moss had eaten away at the wood. The tree was still growing. The inside was filled with mud from where it had sunk. The roof was caving in. It couldn’t stay here, and Doc couldn’t bring himself to tear it down.

He could still remember the first night he slept inside. How confused he was by the beds. He remembered trying to fall asleep after meeting with Xisuma, Bdubs’ excited whispers and Beef’s laughter and Etho’s smile cutting through the dark to congratulate him once last time… thirteen times. There were good memories associated with this tiny building and Doc felt his chest seize again when he somberly realized it wasn’t what it used to be. The NHO wasn’t what it used to be. It was still just him. Just Doc.

These barracks weren’t what Doc cherished them to be and the creeper growled under his breath as he took out his axe and began slicing through the softened planks. What stood in the place of his memories, of his friends, was a husk. That’s all this hunk of wood was, Doc told himself as he tore through it. This wasn’t where Bdubs taught him to speak, this isn’t where Beef showed him how to cook, this isn’t where Etho wrapped him up in his stupid lab coat after a freezing night. This pile of moss and rotting wood was a zombie of Doc’s past and the creeper barely noticed the tears in his eye as he threw the last of the crumbling wood through the piston door and onto the beach to be burned later on.

Doc stood alone in a quiet box, staring at the imprint of where his life started.

He took out another shulker. These building materials were more Bdubs’ style, and Doc knew he would never be able to replace was Bdubs had made here, but he did his best. He lacked the detail Bdubs was so fond of, and the shape wasn’t quite what he remembered, but the shack Doc put together in the barracks' place would have to be enough. It was the same materials. It was still warm and small and at least there was an echo of what used to stand in its place.

Doc walked inside. Space was limited, just like he remembered it, and Doc began to construct the bunk beds. He built the frame before layering each one with wool and soft blankets and when Doc stepped out of the shack, it was night. A torch burned inside the shack to keep it lit, but the sound was drowned out by the gentle roar of the burning walls around it. Inside was warm, Doc sighed, and as much as he wanted to relive the old times, curled up by the fire, he knew sitting on that beach alone would just make him sad.

The creeper had found several cocoa beans when he tore down the foliage around the barracks. He sat on the steps leading into his build and took out his sword to cut through the hard, outer shell, before he smirked. Doc bit off the top and spit it out onto the concrete, using his claws to scoop out the beans inside. He hummed happily around the food, looking at the river through the open piston door as it ran underneath the moonlight. Being back in the jungle was good. It would be even better when he found his friends.

It was late now, and Doc had been working all day. He threw the remnants of his meal into the growing pile of firewood outside and summoned his trident to him. The metal was cool against his heated skin, landing with a _tunk_ in his palm. It took only a moment for the observer to notice the change and shut the door, sealing Doc off from the jungle. He retreated into the shack, curled up on the bottom bunk, and pressed his face into the pillow. If he tried hard enough, he could remember Bdub’s snores or the whistle of Etho’s breathing.

Doc laid his trident on the ground next to his bed, curled up, and went to sleep, a creature of the jungle once more.


	14. Chapter Nine

Come next morning, Xisuma was flying towards the hippie commune. He was still kicking himself for staying out of the conflict, nagging that he should have been more vigilant and if he had stepped in sooner perhaps Doc wouldn’t gave gotten himself stuck in a tangle of Void magic.

What Xisuma had seen was something he hadn’t touched since he left that Void. That was over _six_ years ago. Being Voidkind, the power may have traced him, but he had been away from home for too long for that much of it to appear. Not only that, but Xisuma had stopped practicing Void magic after… irrelevant. There was the stale hum of Admin magic around that portal and where it could have come from made Xisuma shudder.

Of course, he had wanted to find Grian the second he saw the magic, asked him where he got it, how he built the time machine, but it was late. Xisuma forced himself to wait until morning to visit the commune. At least, as he soared into the brightly coloured, rather relaxing area he could play it off as a friendly visit from their Admin, checking in on everyone, doing his rounds. Xisuma landed in the campfire, searching for one of the hippies. He saw exactly no one and pursed his lips as he began exploring the property in ways he hadn’t been able to yet.

Luckily, that’s when Ren flagged him down with a goofy grin accompanied with bags under his eyes. “If it isn’t Xisuma! Welcome to the hippie commune my dude, how can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Grian.” Xisuma said, going to shake Ren’s hand and chuckling when he was pulled into a warm hug. Xisuma squeezed Ren back and gave him a timid smile (even if his helmet covered it) when he properly took in Ren’s appearance. “How are you, my friend?”

“Oh- uh- tired!” Ren’s smile dropped for a moment, but he put his hands on his hips and straightened his back and grinned once more. “Just a little- worried- about Doc. I saw the- the message, in the chat. And he hasn’t been responding to my dm’s. I’m deciding to give him a little space. I think he’s still mad at me for the whole… ‘The Man’ thing but- anyways! Grian. Grian iiiis… I’ll take you to Grian.”

The Admin wanted to say more. He wanted to sit down with Ren and tell the man nothing was his fault. He wanted to tell Ren Doc had figured out a way to go back to the jungle. Xisuma wanted to hug Ren tighter than he had and promise him he would get his best friend back- but Xisuma just nodded. “That would be good. Thank you.”

“Yeah,” Ren quickly turned on heel and began walking across the commune. He led Xisuma to where Grian, Grian of all people was conducting some redstone work. He was at the bottom of the silo doing the final touches on his flying RV, so Ren and Xisuma flew down on their elytras and landed next to him. Grian jumped out of his skin when Xisuma’s boots clicked on the wooden floor, spinning and giving a relieved smile.

“Ah! Hello, what can I do for you?” He grinned, a hand on his chest to stem the erratic beating of his heart.

“I was hoping I could speak to you for a quick moment.” Xisuma smiled. He was trying to appear as non-threatening as he could, but anyone could notice the way Grian paled. Xisuma gave Ren a bit of a nod. “Alone, if you don’t mind, my friend.”

Ren’s smile, which had been fake since Xisuma arrived, fell. He left Xisuma’s side to stand with Grian, hand high on his back. “What ever you can say to my best dude you can say to me, right Gri?”

As slow as death, Grian broke the frozen eye contact he shared with Xisuma and gave Ren a nervous smile. “It’s alright, Ren. I’m sure it’s just about the time machine, you know how it is. Oh, this reminds me, I left a shulker of glass I need to finish this in the hole. Can you grab that for me?”

“On it my dude!” Ren flicked his elytra open with a grin, glad to have something to distract him, and flew up in a shaky spiral before he disappeared over the rim of silo. Grian’s mask fell like his smile and he turned to Xisuma, the trickster’s face holding far too much sorrow and fear. Whatever had happened to the Grian Xisuma knew? The closer he got to asking the question, the more scared Xisuma was of the answer.

“That should give us some time. There’s no shulker of glass.” Grian said, voice terribly quiet and monotone. “What can I do for you Xisuma?”

He realized it all at once. Xisuma’s eyes went wide and he looked Grian up and down like he was a whole new person. “You were an Admin.”

It made so much sense. The man was a natural leader if the Civil War was to say anything, he was sweet and charming and a hard-worker, he shared many bad habits with Xisuma as in he wouldn’t sleep until he collapsed or finished his latest project, and Grian was the only Hermit Xisuma didn’t know enough about to rule out the possession of Admin magic. Xisuma had spent hours the night before patrolling Area 77 for the magic’s source. All he had found were two vents, suspiciously close to the infinity portal, that pumped out air from the room the time machine was stored in. Xisuma should have pieced it together right then and there- he finally had the piece he was missing- this made everything so much easier-

“I was,” Grian said, immediately drawing into himself like Xisuma had landed an arrow in his chest. “That was before I even met Mumbo, it doesn’t even matter anymore.”

“It matters to me,” Said Xisuma. “You know Admin magic. That can cause a lot of issues in a world like this unless it was prepared for it, which it wasn’t. I’m not- _blaming_ you I’m just- why wouldn’t you tell me Grian? The Hermits have to trust each other I… I don’t understand what I’ve done that is stopping you from sharing this with me.”

“I haven’t used it in years.” Grian said. His voice was quiet and his gaze had fallen to Xisuma’s shoes. “I didn’t think I had any left in me. If I had known-”

“Hey. My friend.” Xisuma stepped forwards. Grian looked about ready to run, but Xisuma held a hand out to him. “You don’t have to tell me… _why_ you’re not an Admin anymore. It’s okay. I won’t ask that much of you. But I speak from experience when I say, you should try to tell _someone._ Mumbo, perhaps? You’ll feel better when you do.” Grian was stiff, holding himself so still he was actually beginning to shake. Xisuma hated himself for what he had to ask next, because he was beginning to piece together the answer. “But… the void magic. I need to know where you learned that.”

Grian’s exhale shook and the man was grinding his teeth together as tears steadily grew in his eyes. He was staring at the floor, which made it all the easier for the tears to track down his face. “Can I give you a hug?” Xisuma’s voice rung in his ears, echoing with his heartbeat, but Grian nodded. Xisuma drew Grian into his chest and held him tight, rubbing his back. Xisuma whispered when he spoke next. “You are safe here, my friend.”

“Yeah,” Grian choked into Xisuma’s shoulder. He stepped back and shook himself off, wiping the tears out of his eyes and clearing his throat. “Erm, I was an Admin. And… the world we lived in was… broken. I didn’t know how to make world jumper portals so we just- lived with it, I guess. A group of Watchers thought I was, heh, I was _torturing_ my friends by making them live in the past. So they… took me… to the Deep End. To ‘teach’ me how to be an Admin.”

“Oh, Grian.” Xisuma whispered.

“Yeah. Uh- after they taught me enough I… kind of, well, it’s not important. I escaped, and now you know why I’m so fond of creative.” Grian tried to laugh at himself for a moment, wiping at his tears once more. “When I lost those _stupid_ diamonds, I thought I’d just slip back a few days, and I’d be fine, right? I knew enough Void magic for a simple warp. Well I- I messed up the compass, so I landed in the wrong place without my inventory and, and I left to go get my pickaxe and I come back and it’s gone!” The man crumbled. Xisuma was really hoping they could sit down but now they were standing awkwardly in the middle of a giant silo under a rocket-powered RV. Grian was gasping on his breaths and shaking his head and he looked so small compared to the happy, loud man Xisuma knew. “I didn’t mean for anything of this to happen, I- I _swear_ I just wanted- I don’t know what I wanted! I’m so sorry X. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I never meant for Doc to find that stupid machine.”

“Well.” Xisuma took a deep breath as he digested the information. “I won’t say I… completely understand what you did, but I would never commend you for it either, my friend.” Xisuma bit his lip. He unlatched his helmet from where it secured to his turtle neck and lifted his jaw to show Grian a large pink scar that ran under his ear. “This is from a run-in I had with a Watcher years ago.” He secured his helmet once more and took a deep breath of the stale, filtered air. “I know all about their cruelties. I appreciate you telling me, Grian, and I am _so_ happy you are with us.”

Grian choked on his tears and tried to cover his face. Xisuma drew him into another hug. “Hermits are loyal to the end, Grian. You are safe here.”

“Th-thank you.” Grian coughed. Xisuma squeezed tighter.

“Now,” The Admin said, trying to keep fondness in his voice. “I’ll need your help to get Doc back. I haven’t used my magic in years. I’m not saying today, but soon. Is that alright with you?” Grian nodded vigorously. “Very good. Alright. I am going to leave you be, Grian, but I appreciate you telling me. It feels good, doesn’t it?” Grian nodded once more. “Okay. Take care of yourself my friend. Take a day off. I’ll be in Area 77 if you need me.”

At that, Xisuma careened away. Grian backed himself up against the nearest wall and slid down, taking deep breaths as he buried his head in his hands. He suppressed the fear that was trying to wash over him, repeating to himself _trust Xisuma trust Xisuma trust Xisuma_ as the last ten minutes replayed in his head over and over. The sadness in Xisuma’s eyes, the hesitance in his hands, that giant scar under his jaw-

Rockets fired overhead. Grian gasped and got to his feet, swaying with the vertigo of it all as he tried to clean himself up, smoothing his hair and wiping his tears and getting rid of the blotchy flush in his cheeks- but it was too late. Ren stood before him, frowning. “I was going to say I couldn’t find your glass but now I think you have bigger things to worry about.”

“Pssh, I’m fine. It’s fine! We’re fine. It’s okay Ren. I’m sure the glass is somewhere; you know how I am- Scar’s chest monsters really have gotten me-”

“Grian.” Ren said. He took off his sunglasses and frowned. “Talk to me.”

“It’s-” _I speak from experience when I say, you should try to tell someone. Mumbo, perhaps? You’ll feel better when you do._ “It’s nothing, Ren. I’m okay. Thank you, though.”

“Is Doc okay?” Ren asked. He sounded scared.

It hit Grian then, that while Xisuma never outright said it, he had mentioned ‘getting Doc back’. Grian’s heart seized. He choked on his breath and met Ren’s eyes. Grian’s magic had done… _something_ to Area 77 and Doc was caught in the middle of it. The trickster, for once, was _not_ proud of his precious pranks and began piecing together what may have happened.

“Oh god, Ren.” Grian whispered. “I think I banned Doc.”


	15. Chapter Ten

The next day came all too slow. Ren and Grian were holed up in the hippie commune, all solemn and quiet and completely not themselves. If Impulse noticed, he didn’t say anything. Ren couldn’t fall asleep, restless as the full moon approached and Doc wasn’t at his side. Grian woke sweaty and scared around midnight and didn’t go back to sleep. So, the hippies flew to Area 77 in the wee hours of the morning and parked themselves outside of the infinity portal.

“Oh,” Said Xisuma. “I… didn’t expect you, Ren. How are you?”

Ren wanted to shout at Xisuma. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to demand why Xisuma didn’t tell him that Doc was missing. He wanted to blame the Admin for losing his friend. The worst thing was, was that Ren knew none of this was Xisuma’s fault. The anger inside of Ren would stay there until he could find Doc. He grit his teeth and huffed. “Just fine.”

“We’re here to help.” Said Grian. “I can… look at what I did, Ren is here to help.”

“Fantastic.” Xisuma said, even though his posture showed it was anything but. “Okay! Well, I’ll let you take a look. I have Doc’s notebook, if you would like me to read you some of it.”

“I would appreciate it,” Grian said, beginning to circle the portal much like Xisuma did. “It’s… been awhile since I did this so… give me a second.”

Ren lingered closer to Xisuma, eyeing the book in his hands. He watched over his Admin’s shoulders as he flipped through the pages, looking at Doc’s messy scrawl. Ren found it familiar, smiling to himself as Xisuma’s gloved hands thumbed through the pages. When Ren looked up, he startled a little, looking at Grian’s dark eyes begin to glow white. Xisuma looked up from the notebook and he startled as well, giving Ren a surprised glance before watching Grian more closely.

Suddenly, the glow stopped. Grian shook his head and pushed his palms into his eye with a small grunt, blinking as he looked to his friends. “Um, so… yeah. This is me. My fault. I did this.”

“What does the portal do?” Xisuma asked, watching Grian sulk next to the diamond frame.

“Well, I don’t know _how_ this portal happened, it’s just an amalgamation of my old Admin magic and some… weird void magic, I think. Which is terrifying.” Grian supressed the panic that filled him at the thought of the Watchers who took him from his home finding him. He had to trust Xisuma that he was safe inside the world border. “I think I’d be safe to walk through. I can jump in, see if I can find Doc, and come back out?”

“I don’t think I want you going alone.” Said Xisuma.

“I’ll go with him.” Ren said in the breath after Xisuma’s sentence. “I’m the best Doc tracker in the whole world.”

“Then you both should at least gear up. Tie up any loose ends you have here in case it takes a little longer than a quick dimension hop. I will stay here in case he comes back out, and I will stay here in case anything happens to the world from all this janky magic.” Xisuma said. His eyes landed on Grian with a seriousness the builder didn’t know from their Admin. “I’m trusting you to keep yourself and Ren safe. And to bring Doc back alive.”

For a second, Grian doubted himself. He didn’t trust he could do it, no matter how hard he tried. He had failed Taurtis, who’s to say he wouldn’t fail Xisuma? But Grian pushed that thought aside and took a deep breath. He was Xisuma’s only hope, he could see it in the Admin’s eyes, and he was sick and tired of letting people down. He was tired of running away from his problems.

“I can do it.” He promised. “They’ll be safe with me.”

At that, the three left the infinity portal. Xisuma went to check the rest of Area 77 for abnormalities he had missed the day before. Ren and Grian went to collect resources, and to tie up their loose ends.

Ren traveled to the hippe commune first. He was in the middle of stuffing everything in Renbob’s RV into a shulker box when Impulse walked over, eyebrow raised and flower crown askew. “Is everything okay man? You and Grian have been acting weird lately- am I missing something?”

“No! No.” Ren huffed, looking at the shulker box and it’s muddled contents. Food, rockets, spare records, a few building resources. He didn’t have much of an excuse, and Impulse deserved to know why both of his hippie brothers were disappearing. “It’s nothing to do with you, my dude. Doc, uh, Doc has gotten himself in some trouble and X enlisted Gri and I to go get him. We’ll be gone a few days, tops. If you keep an eye on the commune, we’re fine.”

“Oh. Is Doc okay?” Impulse asked.

“Yeah. We think.” Ren shrugged and picked up the shulker box, fiddling with a handful of rockets. “The sooner we leave the better, you know? Um, don’t worry about it, okay? Everything will be fine.”

Impulse nodded. “Okay. Yeah. Thanks for telling me- I hope everything is okay.”

“It will be.” Ren said. He saw something heavy in Impulse and realized he was missing his friends too. It was the first time the mad man realized it, but Impulse and Doc were in pretty similar situations. “You know what Impulse? Don’t worry about the commune. Do your own thing while we’re gone- fighting The Man is on pause. Stay safe, my dude.”

The confusion on Impulse’s face would have been funnier in a less serious situation when he said, “Yeah. You too man.” and watched Ren fly off. The man’s next destination was his base for better resources, and then he had a very small village to visit.

Ren filled his shulkers in a way that he knew would have Doc proud. Food, rockets, spare tools and armor, building resources, even a little redstone. His potion armada was a little sad but he wouldn’t lose sleep over it as he checked over everything one final time. He could only hope the resources he had laying around would be to enough to find Doc and get him home safe. Ren was still pretty conflicted about Grian’s weird magic. The guy said he had it, as Ren had clearly seen earlier, but didn’t care to explain where he learned it. So Ren was in the dark with his two best friends, which was really ticking him off, but he was fine.

Heaving the shulker boxes onto his shoulder, Ren began to fly towards Keralis’ and Bdubs’ village. He soared over the impressive builds and landed heavily over the small house that most looked like Bdubs’ style. He knocked loud on the door, foot tapping restlessly on the step as someone rummaged around inside.

“Agh, oof, whoopsies! Um, one second!” Bdubs called from inside. He opened the door and Ren raised an eyebrow, looking past him at the tiny house and where Bdubs had been trying (and failing) to cook with a smoker. “Ren! Hi Rendog. What can I do for ya? Why don’t you come inside?”

“Grab your elytra,” Was all Ren said, trying to keep his voice relaxed. “We don’t have a ton of time.”

“Uh-oh.” Bdubs said, taking a few steps back into his house and reaching for the armor stand that held his wings and reaching into the nearby chest for feather-falling boots and rockets. “Must be serious. Where are we going?”

“To get Doc. You need to be there cause-” Ren pursed his lips and _did not_ feel jealousy flick inside of him. “because Doc is stubborn and will listen to you more than anyone else. So. Let’s go.”

“Is Doc okay?” Bdubs said, losing his mirth like he was shedding a second skin. “Where is he?”

“The jungle.” Replied Ren, not missing the way Bdubs paled.

“O-Oh.”

“You’re coming.”

“Am I?”

“For Doc.”

“Right.” Bdubs grunted. “Good guy Bdubs. Here we go. Great.”

Across the world, Grian was grunting and growling as he rifled through his chest monster for any decent supplies he wouldn’t be awfully upset about losing. He was huffing and hawing about a sorting system, he promised himself he was going to make a one eventually. They’re just so complicated- and there’s always something better to do- focus Grian focus.

And then, here’s the issue with Grian focussing, he gets so into digging through his shulker boxes and tossing the items he needs in the general direction of the empty ones lined up to a messy pile of armor he doesn’t hear the figure land behind him. He doesn’t notice anything watching him until it speaks. Grian shouts and turns on heel and holds out his hands like they could be weapons and Mumbo’s eyebrows scrunch together before he starts laughing.

“Gri! I’ve been standing here for like _two_ minutes! What are you doing, mate?”

Grian puts his hands on his knees and giggles as he catches his breath, tries to quell the staccato beating of his heart. “Don’t sneak up on me like that. Jeez, Mumbo.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Mumbo said, not sounding sorry at all. He looked a the shulkers, at what Grian had thrown towards it, and rose an eyebrow. “Can I ask again what all this is? You going adventuring man?”

“Yes.” Grian said, taking in Mumbo’s startled appearance that he guessed right. “I’m going for a few days, need to make sure I have everything in case something goes wrong.”

“Goes wrong?” Mumbo echoed. He walked closer to the shulker boxes and properly scrutinized what was being haphazardly thrown at the boxes. Rather helpfully, Mumbo starting put the items _in_ the shulker boxes because the way Grian packed his items always gave Mumbo the worst of headaches. “Where are you going that makes you need- you have a notch apple? When did you get this? Wait- why do you need a notch apple!?”

Stopping where he was standing on top of his mountain of shulker boxes, Grian sighed through his nose. _I speak from experience when I say, you should try to tell someone. Mumbo, perhaps? You’ll feel better when you do._ “It’s nothing. Doc is in a little trouble with Area 77 and Xisuma enlisted the hippies to help.”

“Oh. Oh, is he okay?” Mumbo asked, tucking the notch apple away with the armor. “It has to be pretty serious if you’re bringing a notch apple.”

“Just a little portal business. We’ll be in and we’ll be out- we’re hoping. I don’t know. We’ll see.” Grian gave Mumbo a smile. “I’ll be fine though. Don’t worry, yeah?”

“No no, no no no no, I’m worried now.” Mumbo stood on the shulker Grian was aiming for so the builder couldn’t open it and crossed his arms, rather unimpressed. “You’re telling me that Docm77 is missing in another dimension, one of which I am guessing is not the Nether or the End, and you, Ren, and Impulse are going to go in wielding flower crowns and drag him out by his feet?”

“Well, just Ren and I actually-”

“That’s worse! This is pants. You don’t even have a redstoner. I’m coming with you.”

“Xisuma-”

“Oh, like Xisuma can stop me.” Mumbo’s face went red. “I- I mean, I respect the man of course, he is a fantastic Admin, I just meant, you know. I want. I want to help.”

“Mumbo, dude, it’s not safe. You’re an absolute _spoon_ , you’ll get hurt.” Grian frowned. “And I’m not trying to be rude. The fewer people who go, the better.”

“Grian, when you entered the Hermits one of the first things I should have told you: is that we are stubborn. We are loyal to the end.” Mumbo stepped down from the shulker box and grabbed Grian by the shoulders. “You’re my friend, mate. And I’m worried about you. Doc and Ren- they’re also my friends, and I have to be there to support them. You’re lucky you’re not swarmed by an angry mob, if anything. Let me come with you. If I get hurt, I’ll respawn here and you can laugh at me. Agreed?”

The frown on Grian’s face was deep. He thought, only for a moment did he let himself think, about Taurtis and the Empire. The determination he saw there was the same as what he saw in front of him and Grian was _so_ scared of seeing what would happen to this group of his friends if his magic failed him again. The Mumbo’s grip on his shoulders squeezed just a bit tighter and Grian was grounded, pulling Mumbo into a hug. “Only if you promise me you’re going to be careful.”

Mumbo was good at hugs, Grian decided, as Mumbo squeezed back. “I’ll do my best.”

“Oh, god,” Grian laughed into his chest, finally pulling away. “Okay, well, go get your… redstone stuff, I guess. I’m going to meet Ren at the infinity portal.”

“Infinity portal?” Mumbo echoed. “Uh, where exactly are we going?”

“Last world. The jungle.” Grian explained, and Mumbo paled a bit.

“Oh. Cheers. I will- I will meet you there.”

Quickly saying their goodbyes, Mumbo flew back to his base to pack while Grian finished what he had in front of him. The builder looked at the colourful shulker boxes and could only hope they were enough as he pulled them up and walked into his Nether portal to get to the portal.

The entire flight there, Grian could only think about the consequences he could face if he failed.

He refused to think about it anymore and spammed his rockets to get to Area 77 faster, even though he knew that wasn’t how it worked. As he wandered through the trees towards the infinity portals, he could hear voices that weren’t just Ren’s and Xisuma’s. Grian felt an itch inside of him. Were more people going to know about his magic? What was going on? Who was there?

The trees ended. Ren was crouched in the grass, petting a grey and white cat and calling her pretty. Scar stood next to him, looking very smug because, yes, his cat _was_ pretty and everyone should recognize that. Xisuma was standing next to the portal with Bdubs, talking in low tones and looking grave. The scene made Grian confused and queasy and giggle all at the same time, Ren hopping up to give him a hug.

“Good news my brother! Scar and Bdubs are coming with!”

“Oh,” Grian flushed. “so is Mumbo.”

Xisuma facepalmed, which was funny, because he had his helmet on, but the effort was there.

“I said a _small_ group.”

“Don’t worry Xisuma!” Bdubs smiled, giving his friend a hug. “We’ll be just fine! Gri here is going to keep us safe, aren’t you Grian?”

The builder felt his heart leap into his throat. Had Xisuma just gone ahead and… told everyone? Would he do that? Grian found it hard to believe, but his anxiety sure didn’t. Or was Bdubs just agreeing with Grian’s rank as the leader? Why _was_ Grian the leader. Oh, yeah, magic. Grian was back to thinking about the absolute horror that was the failure of this task and took a breath deep enough that he could repress the shakes that tried to reverberate through it. “No need to worry, X. I got them.”


	16. Chapter Eleven

Grian stood in front of the infinity portal. “Place I most desire, huh?”

The adventuring party was set. Perhaps Grian and Ren were most prepared, Mumbo having scrounged together his little food and a few boxes of redstone, Bdubs with nothing but his elytra, and Scar armed with a day’s worth of food, some building materials, and none other than Jellie. Everyone had agreed Grian would go first, and if he didn’t come out with an all clear, the rest would stay behind. It was hard to make Ren and Mumbo agree to it, but Xisuma’s firm look was explanation enough. He had given Grian Doc’s notebook, with Ren and Scar to translate.

“We still don’t know what that means.” Said Xisuma. “It might be subjective. Perhaps you all end up somewhere different. Or- Doc refers to the jungle as the place everyone should want to return to.”

“Creepy.” Mumbo said brightly.

“Okay. Okay. I’ll just- step in. Give me a second.” Grian grinned. He stepped up to the portal, took a deep breath of the heady purple magic, and jumped in before he could chicken out.

The portal was tearing him apart. Grian grit his teeth against the pain, he had felt far worse, and the lightning that went through his head blinded the man as he stumbled out of the portal and fell to his knees. The harness of his elytra was uncomfortably tight and Grian’s eyes widened with fear as he scrambled with the buckle. As the artificial wings fell away, glowing golden feathers spread wide for the first time in months. Grian pressed his face into the smooth stone below him and moaned in relief as the aching muscles of his wings stretched out.

He shot up. Grian flapped his wings hard and landed on his feet, reaching behind him in an anxious scramble to tuck his wings back behind their magic veil even though his knew his hands would do nothing to help the situation. When his eyes finally focused and he saw the world in front of him, Grian felt like he was going to throw up.

It was Evo.

He was standing in spawn of Evo.

Grian had thought the world was destroyed.

Looking over his shoulder, the infinity portal stood proud, still lit. Grian had a few seconds, right? He had his wings. Travel would be easy and fast.

He looked at his old train station. The wood was rotten and had fallen in on itself without upkeep. The Property Police building was crumbled as ever. Netty’s tree house had fallen out of the tree. Sorrow was heavy in Grian’s heart and his bat his wings hard, pulling himself into the air and looking down on the destruction the Watchers had wrought on his home in his absence. His eyes were burning, and Grian pretended it was because of the wind as he began flying along the fallen train tracks he had spent so, so long on.

So in a sense, Evo had been stripped of what it once was.

Grian landed in front of the Empire. He fell heavily and looked at his old life as tears built in his eyes. Walking through the area wasn’t what Grian was there for, he knew the buildings were destroyed, he knew everything he had built had been broken or changed in some sort of way. But, there was one thing Grian knew would still… be somewhat what it was.

Crouching in the grass, Grian folded his wings behind his back calmly and shut his eyes. He twisted his hand carefully and reached for his magic and soon enough he was holding a small flower. Blindly, he dug a hole in the overgrown soil and planted the flower with nothing but muscle memory. Opening his eyes, Grian looked at the Taurtis Summoning Platform. He looked at where the dye was running into the stone and where the dirt and grime had been crawling up the statue of his old friend’s face.

“I’m sorry,” Grian said. His voice was a mere whisper, broken and hoarse, and he cleared his throat as tears pricked at his eyes. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t stay. I’m sorry I didn’t save you guys.”

It wasn’t like he was expecting the ground to open up and a Taurtis to crawl on out. He certainly wasn’t expecting the rest of the Evolutionists to walk out of the overgrown trees and greet him as their Admin once more. Grian knew that was an unrealistic expectation, that they were gone, that there was no coming back from death-by-Watcher. But, whatever hope Grian had harbored that his friends had maybe escaped shattered as he looked at the summoning platform, abandoned.

“Okay. I gotta- I gotta go now, guys.” Grian whispered. He summoned several more flowers, one for each of his fallen friends. “I miss you. I’ll miss you forever but I really, really need to go find Doc. You’d like him! I think. You’d like all the Hermits. But that’s not the point.”

“Bye, guys.” Grian whispered after a lapse of silence. He got to his feet, smiled at the flowers, and flew back to spawn.

He landed in front of the infinity portal. Grian took a deep breath, felt around for his magic, and let it hide his wings beneath the usual veil. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but Grian didn’t want the Hermits to see what the Watchers had done to him. With that done, Grian picked up his elytra and clipped them back into place with a sigh, looking at the portal in front of him with a scowl.

“Bye, Evo.” He said, jumping through the portal.

So, that test blew up in his face.

\----------

Grian burst out of the portal with a pained gasp.

Mumbo jumped to his feet and just managed to catch him, pulling his friend into his chest and holding him tight. “Goodness me man, you scared the daylights out of me.” Mumbo complained into Grian’s hair.

The man was still reeling form the teleportation, his head high in the clouds and aching. He coughed into Mumbo’s chest as the redstoner hugged him even tighter, pushing him away with a small groan. “Mumbo, dude, I was gone for like ten minutes.” He snorted, looking up at Mumbo with a rueful smile to hide the redness of his eyes.

Grian’s heart fell when he realized the sun was setting behind Mumbo’s head. Xisuma tackled him next, heaving him off his feet. Squeaking at the surprise hug from their Admin, Grian weakly pat Xisuma’s shoulder with his forearms pinned to his sides before he was dropped back to his seat. The relieved grin of Xisuma’s face fell into a scowl and Grian got a quick scolding and then it was Ren’s turn, his grip inches away from crushing. Grian was gasping for air _again_ when Ren finally stepped back to beam at him, but the builder could still feel his bones aching.

“I- I _swear_ , I was only there for like ten minutes!”

“What did you see?” Xisuma asked.

“Uh,” Grian’s face flushed red and he wiped his eyes. “Just a- random world.”

“What?” Ren said, frowning at the diamond frame. “So this just leads… no where? Did you see Doc? A trail?”

“Okay, okay, it wasn’t a random world. It was my old world.”

Xisuma’s face fell. Everyone else just looked confused.

“I wasn’t focussing, is all, I can do it this time.” Grian promised.

“Let me go first.” Said Ren. “If this works like the books says, it will take me right to Doc. I’m really worried about the dude.”

Guilt ran through Grian like water and Mumbo seemed to notice, throwing his arm around Grian’s shoulders. He felt exposed, and he worried the Hermits were taking his trip to Evo as him saying he didn’t want to be a Hermit. Grian leaned into Mumbo in hopes that would say what he couldn’t and sighed into his hands in hopes to qualm his headache. If Grian could have melted into himself in that moment and hid, he would have. He was still reeling from seeing Evo, and he was trying to wrap his head around the fact that Evo was the place he most desired. Had Grian not spent almost a year building a life with the Hermits? Shouldn’t he be over what happened to him by now?

“Be careful my friend.” Xisuma said quietly, snapping Grian out of his thoughts. Ren gave him a nod, took a deep breath, and jumped into the portal.

“Did everyone just… sit here and wait for me?” Grian asked once he had his voice back. He didn’t like how small he sounded, but he could recognize it well reflected how he felt. Not to mention his heart warmed at the fact that they _had_ waited for him.

“Of course we did!” Said Scar, sat next to Bdubs, who had a cat in his lap. “No one wanted to leave, really.”

“We were worried about you.” Mumbo said, squeezing Grian’s shoulder.

“Oh, um, thanks.”

“Please my friend, we had to restrain Ren from jumping in after you.” Xisuma laughed, finally taking a heavy seat next to Scar and Bdubs.

Like he had been summoned, Ren burst out of the portal. He looked like he was about to collapse so Grian left Mumbo’s side to put a hand on his chest and keep the man upright. “Found him! Found him!” Ren gasped, dizzily leaning on Grian as he grinned. “Forest. Big base. Let’s go. Let’s go.” He chanted, turning on heel with a firm grip on Grian’s wrist and dragging him back into the swirling purple, chanting as Grian yelped. “Focus Gri, think Doc, he’s stupid, think about a really annoying creeper!”

Ren and Grian were swallowed by the purple magic. The others stationed outside the portal gave each other surprised glances and Scar giggled a bit.

“Oh, goodness.” Mumbo sighed. He stepped up next, gave Xisuma a wave goodbye, and jumped through.

Scar stood, picked up Jellie, and gave her a good scratch. “You be safe. Take care of X!” he put Jellie in Xisuma’s lap with a wink. “Take care of her. Don’t tell her I said that. She’ll remind you when it’s feeding time- her favourite is salmon!” The builder beamed as he backed himself into the portal.

Bdubs sat in the grass and looked at the portal. He held his breath as Scar disappeared and jumped when Xisuma’s hand landed on his shoulder. “You don’t have to go.”

“He’s there because of me.” Whimpered Bdubs. “I owe him, don’t I?”

“Bdubs, no one knows what happened, not even me. I can see why an experience like that would be terrifying.” Xisuma sighed. He pat Bdubs’ back and gave him a smile, obstructed by the helmet as it was. “If you want to go, go. If you’re scared, which is completely fair, you can help me take care of Scar’s cat.”

Jellie began rumbling with loud purrs at the mention of her, rubbing against Xisuma’s arms before he gave her some attention. Bdubs smiled as the Admin scratched underneath Jellie’s chin and slowly got to his feet, nodding to Xisuma as he faced the portal. “I can do this! I’m going to go get Doc- _and_ Etho and Beef!”

“Wait, Bdubs, that may be somewhat unreasonable-” Bdubs jumped into the portal and Xisuma looked down at the cat with a heavy sigh. “I’m in charge of a bunch of fools, Jellie. Absolute buffoons.”

\----------

Bdubs emerged from the portal with a gasp. He collapsed into the sand with a groan and Scar pulled him to his feet, smiling as he brushed him off. “You okay man?”

“Amazing,” Bdubs wheezed, looking around. He felt his chest seize as he looked at the familiar beach, especially the giant flaming block standing where his barracks once did. The other Hermits were gathered around it- well, Ren and Mumbo were. Grian was looking around the forest with big eyes, examining the treeline. He glanced over his shoulder at Scar and Bdubs and grinned before moving over to Mumbo and Ren.

“I really… don’t know how he did this. There’s nothing an observer could detect- no button or pressure plate.” Mumbo huffed. “Doc, dude. He’s a madman if I ever met one.”

“Doc!” Ren shouted at the netherack box. “Docm, uh, we’re here to take you home, buddy!”

“Maybe screaming in the middle of a dangerous jungle isn’t our best idea.” Grian said, looking the build up and down. “Hey, wait. This might be something like my entrance to Poultry Man’s- uh, to- to a lair- nope, a very normal room in my base, a very normal room in my base that has nothing to do with poultry.”

“Uh-huh.” Said Mumbo.

“It’s a trident! If you put a trident in the right block, a piston door will open. I’m sure of it.” Grian said with a grin.

Bdubs and Scar watched as Ren and Grian began flinging tridents at the walls, laughing at each other’s aim and the loud clang of the tridents and the look on Mumbo’s face at being bested in redstone. Scar was happy to sit back and watch the exchange, but Bdubs began looking around. The firepit had been dug up and something recently burned. For a moment, he longed for the old days of the NHO, but he didn’t have time to think about that either. Instead, he walked over to the firepit and looked around it.

If anyone on the Hermitcraft server was hard to track, it was Doc. He was never a fan of shoes, mostly because none of them fit his paws, and creepers were great for not leaving tracks. But Bdubs could recognize his marks in the sand among the press of shoes. Not to mention the fact that his prosthetics made Doc as heavy as a stack of iron and the indents of his paws were far deeper than the press of human shoes. Bdubs followed the tracks to a trail into the jungle that was haphazardly cut out of the vegetation.

“Uh, guys?”

“I got it!” Ren cheered. “Doc, dude, we’re here to take you home baby!”

Bdubs turned around and Ren’s trident sticking out of the sand, he and Grian squeezing themselves into the fortified space. Mumbo and Scar turned their attention to Bdubs, both rather comically raising an eyebrow.

“Guys, he’s not in there, ya stupids!” Bdubs called. “He went this way.”

“You don’t know that!” Ren shouted from within the cube. “There has to be like- a basement he’s hiding in!”

“I don’t know man,” Scar said, walking over to Bdubs. “There’s literally a path leading into the trees.”

“I have to agree with them, mate,” Mumbo said, drifting over. “This path through the woods looks like a good chance. It’s only about noon, I don’t see why Doc would be holed up in his base during prime working hours.”

“C’mon, Ren.” Grian smiled, nodding over to the bushes. “It’s okay dude.”

Ren huffed from where he stood inside Doc’s barracks. His nose was twitching at he looked at the build, a style very unlike Doc, and back to Grian. When the builder only raised an eyebrow, Ren drooped and began following Grian into the trees. “Alright. Fine. I know Doc though. He and I have been best brothers since we came to this world- I know Doc.”

“I know dude, I know.” Grian sighed, smacking Ren on the back as the party began trekking into the jungle.


	17. Chapter Twelve

“This is the worst thing.” Mumbo complained. “Jungles are the worst. I never want to see a jungle again. This is pants. We’re just going in circles, aren’t we?”

“Mumbo, dude,” Grian sighed. “not helping.”

“I agree! Very much not helping! Aha!” Bdubs squeaked. “I’m fine.”

“Everyone,” Ren growled. “ _please_ shut up.”

The party had been walking along the path for hours. The jungle was thick, in some places the vines and leaves had overgrown the path. Bdubs was leading, and his trusty axe did not let him down as he hacked away at any jungle arm that dare block their path. The air was hot and hard to breathe and everything smelled like plants, which wasn’t the worst of things, but it was a very dizzying smell after long enough. Everyone was hot and sweating and other than the markings in the mud and sand, there was no trace of Docm77. There had been attempts at conversation, but most of it went no where because, well, everyone was tired. It was hard to have light-hearted, intelligent conversation when you were exhausted and there was a chance that your friend was dead.

Forced by the path, they could only walk in twos. Bdubs led, Scar and Mumbo walked along the middle, and Ren and Grian took up the back. Ren would flinch at every rustle of the leaves and stop to inspect the area with a call of Doc’s name, and Mumbo was on the look for redstone or traps laid along the path, but the other three were more or less following the trail until it ended. Because the trail had to end, right?

“You know what my friends, I think we just have to relax.” Scar said as peacefully as he could. “This world is wild and weird and we won’t get anywhere if we don’t trust each other! Doc is a smart guy and he will be fine. He made this path didn’t he! He knows what he’s doing and we _have_ to find him sooner or later.”

“Doc is also a creeper.” Mumbo shrugged. “I don’t think he would really need a ‘path’. This could be a path made by someone completely different, someone who wants to kill us all.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Bdubs said. “Docm really likes his human commodities. You know- when we made him-”

“Doc is a _lot_ different than when you made him!” Ren said, baring his teeth. “Stop talking like you know exactly who he is!” A growl was stuck in Ren’s throat and everyone stopped on the path. Scar and Mumbo looked over their shoulders at him and Bdubs turned right around, looking at the usually incredibly calm man with wide eyes.

Grian put his hand on Ren’s back and tried for a smile. “…you okay dude?”

“I’m fine.” Ren snarled. He blinked once, then twice, and smoothed back his hair as he stood to his full height. “Erm, I’m cool. I’m cool, dude. Let’s just- keep going. Sorry.”

“Okay! We’re going to keep going!” Said Bdubs loudly. No one missed the redness of his face, but most excused it for the heat finally getting to him. “I mean- the sun _is_ setting. Maybe we should make camp? Making camp, anyone?”

“Where?” Scar snorted. “I may be known for terraforming but I don’t think even I could whip this jungle into shape.”

“I mean, if we do the maths, we could probably guess how much further Doc is, right?” Suggested Mumbo. “Time moves differently through the infinity portal- if Grian had anything to say about it. He was gone for like- around ten minutes. And he was gone- to us- for what, twelve-ish hours? Maybe one minute here equals on hour in the right world!”

“I think it’s different here,” Grian sighed. “There is no way anyone could build this much or clear out a path like this in only a few minutes. I mean, it’s also Doc, but- Oh, god, this is hurting my head.”

“This is fine! We’re fine! Aha! We have nothing to worry about.” Bdubs swallowed, putting down a shulker box to retrieve a torch. “Everyone get your swords ready, because, and you’re going to hate me- I forgot my bed.”

“You? You forgot your bed.” Scar deadpanned.

“Blame Ren! He was the one who showed up at my door all like- get your elytra, rah rah rah, I’m a big scary stupid!” Bdubs whined.

Ren bared his teeth and snarled. “Yeah, blame me. Because this is _my_ fault.”

“Ren.” Grian’s voice was quiet but stern.

The hippie’s face flushed and he looked down at Grian, looked stricken and… almost scared. “I-I’m sorry, dude, it’s just- With Doc being gone, I- I’m so worried about him and- the moon is- well- you, you know what? Never mind. Let’s just keep going.”

The jungle rumbled and rustled. The group went still, deathly still. “Okay everyone,” Grian whispered, his voice an octave higher than usual. “we are in a demonic jungle, after dark, unable to find our friend. Let’s put our backs together and continue worming down the path. With swords. Everyone carry a sword.” Reconfiguring their group, everyone pressed their shoulders together and faced the edges of the path. It was far more awkward to walk this way, but it was also safer.

“Doc?” Bdubs called to the trees. “Um, if you can hear us, in this very weird jungle, maybe you could go to sleep?”

“Doc doesn’t sleep.” Ren said.

“I mean, he used to.” Bdubs smiled. “Yeah! We had campfires and when it got late we’d go to the barracks and Etho eventually convinced Doc to come inside, because he hated indoors, you know, being a creeper and all-”

Grian’s grip on Ren’s wrist was getting tighter and tighter. The man was visibly seething, near steaming at the ears, and only Mumbo and Grian were noticing. Once Ren was past seething, there was a constant growl in his throat and Grian was searching for the moon through the foliage, giving Mumbo a concerned look. The redstoner could only shake his head. Ren took a deep breath, one that rumbled as it passed through his teeth.

“Bdubs?” Mumbo said. “Maybe we should… stay quiet. So we can hear things sneaking up on us.”

“Ren,” Grian whispered. “what’s wrong?”

Bdubs let out a shrill scream. A lead curled around his ankle and heaved him high into the air as earth fell away to reveal a pit of lava, spitting and bubbling underneath him. Scar and Mumbo, who had been right next to him, were left teetering on the edge of the pit and Grian tasked himself with grabbing the backs of their shirts and yanking them away from the pit. Ren snarled at the bushes and picked up the sword Grian dropped, looking at the dimly lit forest with keen, sharp eyes.

Then, the prongs of a trident went around Ren’s neck and pinned his face to a tree. The party erupted with panic more than they already had, Mumbo and Grian desperately trying to pull the trident out of the tree while Ren’s newly found claws shredded the bark, Bdubs screaming in panic trying to untie his ankle, and Scar reaching for his hands to catch him since no one wanted Bdubs to be freed only to fall into a roiling pit of lava.

A heavy _thunk_ sounded further up the past and a low growl shook through the group and silenced everyone. The ground shut with the crash of pistons and, lucky for him, that’s when Bdubs undid the knot around his ankle and fell into Scar’s arms. The trident left the wood of the tree and landed in the palm of the man in the shadows with a gentle _tunk_.

“What are you doing here?” Doc demanded; red eye glowing in the dark. He stepped into the light of Bdubs’ torch, which the builder scrambled to pick up once he and Scar had untangled themselves. Torch held aloft, the light illuminated the bags under Doc’s eyes, his shredded lab coat, and the bright green vines wrapped around his leg. “This jungle isn’t safe. None of you should be here.”

“Doc, you stupid-” Bdubs hissed, stepping forwards, only to be shoved out of the way.

“Oh my god, dude!” Ren shouted, bounding down the path and tackling Doc to the ground. The creeper shouted in surprised as Ren squeezed him impossibly tight, pushing himself up with a groan from where he had fallen on top of his friend. “You’re an idiot! And I hate you! I was _so_ worried dude, you just like, disappeared on me. I can’t believe you’d just do that to me! Oh, Doc, I’m gonna- I will- oh Docm77 don’t you ever play me like that again!”

Doc looked up at Ren, dumbfounded. Ren put his hands on Doc’s shoulders and growled out his frustrations. The rest of the rescue group looked at the scene on the path in front of them and glanced at each other, laughing nervously until Doc wrapped his arms around Ren and gave him a hug. “You stupid mutt.”

“Bite me, robot.” Ren sighed happily, sitting up. “Alright, we gotta go Doc, Xisuma is worried sick.”

“I’m not going.” Doc said. He very gingerly sat up, Ren rolling off of his lap and the two helping each other to their feet. Doc glanced from Ren to the rest of the group, glaring at Bdubs. His eye adjusted against the bright light of the torch and Doc gave a concerned hiss that had everyone but Ren and Bdubs bristling. “What are you doing here!? This is dangerous for you!”

“Hey, hey, don’t you start worrying about me, buster- Mr. I’m-Going-To-Jump-Through-A-Portal-To-Avoid-My-Family! I was worried about you!” Bdubs said, putting his free hand on his hip to give Doc a proper glare.

“Doc, dude, we got to get back.” Said Mumbo, gesturing over his shoulders. “This whole thing is pants, we gotta go before stuff starts spawning.”

“Nothing spawns in the jungle.” Doc grunted. “I’m working my way to the heart. I’m getting close, and you all need to go home.”

“No way!” Ren said, grabbed Doc’s tattered coat. “You’re not getting me out of this jungle.”

“I mean, I’d love to see Jellie but I’m not leaving without you, Doc.” Scar frowned.

“I’m with Ren and Scar on this one, Doc.” Said Grian, crossing his arms. The creeper narrowed his eyes at Grian and growled, but the builder didn’t flinch, just narrowed his eyes back. “You might think I’m out to get you dude, but Xisuma said I’m in charge when he’s not here, so I have to stay and make sure you don’t kill yourself.”

“Don’t ever think you’re in charge of me.” Doc hissed. “I’ve been here for _weeks_ and you walk in and decide you’re going to stop my progress? No. Leave me alone. All of you.”

“Doc,” Ren said. “It’s been like three days. Time is different here. We came as soon as we could. We want to help you, dude.”

“Whatever,” said Doc. He opened his palm and his trident flew up from the ground into his hand, and just like that, the cyborg turned on heel and began marching along the forest trail. Ren didn’t even hesitate before following him, and Bdubs and Grian were next. Scar and Mumbo shared a glance, sighed at each other, and were forced to follow the rest of the group down the trail.

\----------

They ended up walking all night. Doc didn’t slow down for them. He didn’t say anything to them. Ren and Bdubs were asking questions and trying to get him to stop, but any time someone tried to touch Doc he’d hiss, and certain questions made him growl. The group was exhausted and the sun was breeching the sky and even from the back of the group, Grian could see the hairs on the back of Ren’s neck bristling.

“What in the world is going on?” Mumbo asked quietly.

“I wish I knew.” Grian said distantly.

Mumbo eyed Scar, who was only a few paces in front of them. Mumbo had flagged behind awhile ago and Grian decided to take up the rear with him to make sure Mumbo wasn’t left behind. Scar had tried to keep conversation with them, but with Doc, Bdubs, and Ren moving so quickly, it was pretty hard to keep conversation while staying with the forwards-most three while half awake and drenched in sweat.

Luckily for Mumbo, that meant everyone was out of ear shot if he brought his voice just below his regular volume. “You’ve been acting weird, dude. Since I saw you going through your shulkers- are you okay?”

“Worried about Doc. About this stupid mission,” Said Grian. “time is wild here, and Doc has one of those creepy vines Xisuma told me about around his leg, and- and he won’t let his best friends anywhere near him!” Grian rubbed his face to calm himself down. “And I’m worried about Ren. I’ve never seen him so… so…”

“Angry?” Offered Mumbo.

“Ren is one of the most relaxed guys I know.” Grian whimpered. “And the last few days he’s been… not himself. I’m worried this jungle is just making it worse.”

“It’s going to be okay, Grian. You know, once Doc let’s his guard down I’ll unplug him and we can carry him home.” Mumbo was grinning and giving Grian a stupid look and for a moment, Grian found a laugh shaking through his chest.

“You know, I can’t tell if you’re joking or being serious,” He sneered. “And I can’t tell which one I’m hoping for.”


	18. Chapter Thirteen

It was noon the next day when they arrived in Doc’s camp. The path opened wide like the delta of a river and into the clearing. From the clearing where several more paths, branching off like a star. In the centre of the clearing was a wall of flaming netherack, and when Doc threw his trident into the key block and ducked inside, the rest of the group were nearly locked out. Inside the fiery wall was nothing but a pile of shulkers and chests and a firepit.

Everyone collapsed in an exhausted heap and only when Grian stared up at the blaring sun did he snort. “Is this how you’ve been living?”

“Got a lot of work done,” Doc shrugged, sorting through a chest pressed against the back wall.

“Oh no, no no no no no. You sit _down_ , mister.” Bdubs said, blocking the door with his body. “We are all going to sleep! It’s unhealthy to be awake so long. C’mon, Docm. Bed time.”

“I have to agree, dude.” Agreed Ren, standing next to Bdubs and crossing his arms over his chest. He gave Doc a pointed look as if to say _try me_ when the creeper shifted the axe thrown over his shoulder. “You need some sleep. You look like death.”

“I’m fine,” Doc growled. “I’m getting closer to the heart of the jungle, and if you get out of my way, I’ll be there by nightfall.”

“What are you even trying to do?” Asked Mumbo.

“It doesn’t matter. You can take an afternoon away from your project.” Insisted Scar.

“Doc,” Grian said, bringing the attention back to the exhausted man laying next to the empty firepit. “go to sleep. Please. You know better than anyone that this jungle is dangerous and can and will play tricks on you. If you’re half awake, it’s just going to be worse.”

“C’mon man,” Ren pleaded. “Just a few hours. Then we’ll go with you.”

“No. It’s too dangerous for you here.” Growled Doc.

“If it’s dangerous for us, it’s too dangerous to you. You’re mortal too, Doc.” Insisted Scar.

“If you go out, I’m coming with you.” Bdubs sneered, stepped back towards the closed exit. “Into the big bad jungle! You want that, stupid?”

“Fine.” Said Doc, grinding his teeth together. “I will sleep.”

“Glad that’s sorted out!” Mumbo beamed, clapping his hands together. “Could we get some shade? I feel like it’s really hot in here. This is kind of terrible.”

In true Hermit fashion, the Rescue-Doc-Party turned into the Take-Care-Of-Doc-Party. Mumbo and Doc made the netherack wall bigger and moved the redstone door to allow some room for a building. Grian and Bdubs made an echo of the barracks on the beach, only getting yelled at once for trying to build on the earth and not the concrete Doc had placed down. After the wall was expanded, the creeper said the jungle was too close (and no one knew what that meant), so Scar was on terraforming duty and Doc made sure to keep a close eye on him as he and Mumbo relit the wall. Since Doc truly did look one day away from respawning by starvation, Ren dug through his chests for anything that could make some decent food and got to cooking.

“This is crazy, guys,” Scar moaned, wiping the sweat off his forehead and cracking his back. “I’ve like, ugh, cut this one bush _at least_ three times.”

“You have to burn it.” Said Doc over his shoulder, flicking a flint and steel together close to a piece of netherack. “Cauterize the vines and the stems. It’s the only way to stop them from growing.”

“What?” Scar snorted, turning to the creeper.

Doc looked at Scar over his shoulder dismissively to respond, but his eye narrowed and the cyborg stomped over. A sharp breath and a builder heaved into the air later, Doc’s cybernetic hand was gripped tight around a bunch of leaves caught to where Scar had tied his jacket around his waist. Doc threw the leaves into the flaming wall and snarled to himself as he put Scar down.

“Everything okay?” Scar asked, voice high and tight. Doc circled him like a predator, growling, his hand and his eye audibly recalibrating. “Doc?”

“Don’t let the jungle touch you.” Doc hissed, going back to the netherack.

“Okay. Cool cool.” Said Scar, eyeing Doc as he began terraforming once more. Scar struck up a torch and began cauterizing what he removed with his shears and axe. By the time Mumbo and Doc had the entirety of the netherack wall burning, Scar had pushed back the jungle at least four feet. The three Hermits retreated back behind the wall and collapsed next to the fire where Ren was searing steaks for everyone, humming to himself to the clatter of Bdubs and Grian building, their playful bickering soft next to the crackle of the flames. Scar fell back heavily, relishing in the cool concrete against his heated skin. “I hate jungles.”

“I know!” Complained Bdubs from the porch of the barracks. Ren noticed Doc’s arm recalibrate out of the corner of his eyes. “I mean, look at those _bushes._ Such a pretty green. But the rest of it is just- blagh! Disgusting! Impossible to work with!”

“It would be an interesting building challenge.” Scar shrugged, sighing happily when Ren pressed a bottle of water into his hand.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Warned Doc. “I’m finding Beef and Etho and we’re leaving.”

“Hey, um, I’ve been meaning to ask.” Said Ren, clearing his throat and poking at Doc’s leg with the stick he had been using to flip the steaks. “What happened to your leg, dude?”

“Oh,” Said Doc, looking at where the green vine curled around his calf. “’s not jungle magic, if that’s what you’re thinking. I tied it there. I’ve replaced it a few times- as long as it isn’t growing and isn’t wilted it keeps the rest of the jungle away.”

“What are you talking about?” Snorted Grian, coming out of the barracks and dusting off his raw hands before dropping next to Mumbo around the fire. Good thing the sun was setting, because he wasn’t sure if he could withstand the heat of the fire and the sun at the same time. More so, the cool wash of night would feel great after not sleeping for almost 36 hours and building barracks in one afternoon.

“The jungle moves.” Said Doc. He looked to Bdubs, the man happily engraving something into a sign hung next to the door. The creeper watching him swallowed and looked down at the fire. “It will take you. It hasn’t tried on me, but it’s because I’m wearing the vine. I think it’s how I lost the NHO the first time.”

The scrape of Bdubs’ blade went quiet. Everyone heard the man sigh and Ren took that as his cue to begin handing out dinner. “Everyone eat! You’ve all be working hard and Ren-Diggity-Dawg has made you the best dinner this fine jungle has to offer!”

Everyone got a healthy share of steak and watermelon. If anyone noticed Ren giving Doc some of his share, they didn’t say anything, and nor did the creeper. He looked thankful for it, really, even if he was clutching his stomach. The fire pit crackled with fire and with laughter, the Hermits doing whatever they could to make each other smile in the strange situation they had found themselves in. Bdubs and Doc recounted shenanigans from the days of the NHO, even if everyone could see the conflict the happy stories brought them. Scar talked about the Vex and ConCorp, which made Mumbo share Grian’s darkest secret: breaking Sahara with a potato. Everyone had a story to tell, and as night was falling, Ren distantly realized his best stories were of the Civil War and of the Hippies. Every memory he cherished over the past few months were with Doc and Grian.

As the moon rose, Ren could feel his skin begin to itch. He scratched at the back of his neck and tried not to worry about the much furrier skin he found there. Telling himself he still had a day, Ren forced down any panic that tried to swallow him. The camp fire was peaceful now anyways, and he refused to be the one to break it.

He and Grian tried to sing, for a bit. Mumbo had dragged Grian down from his performers pose and told him to be quiet through his laughter, but Ren continued singing soft songs he hadn’t practiced in months as the excitement around the campfire began to die down. Bdubs declared he was going to bed. Scar was quick to follow and Mumbo left a while after with a nod and a wave.

Still, Ren sang. Grian joined in on tunes he knew from the hippie commune with a smile, yawning in between breaths as he basked in the warmth of the fire and the shine of the moon. It was quiet and peaceful and you could almost forget the looming threat that hovered over the camp.

Half-listening to their chimes, Doc sat next to the fire. One leg was propped up, his chin resting on his knee as he watched the flames burn and flicker. He idly played with a leaf growing from the vine around his leg and other than Ren and Grian’s singing, only interrupted for brief conversation, Doc’s mind was on how much work was left in front of him. What his next steps for finding Etho and Beef were, what he could expect at the heart of the jungle.

His silent ramble ended with Grian’s voice drifting towards the barracks. He was going to bed after being awake so long, leaving Ren and Doc alone at the fire. It was then Doc finally truly noticed what Bdubs and Grian had built, a cry of the old days and a homage to what had been lost under months of overgrowth and dangerous magic. Doc was exhausted. The food had settled in his stomach like a rock and was begging him to lay down. The fire was so warm.

“I was worried about you, dude,” Ren said. Doc would have thought Ren was whispering, but no, it was the usually loud and boisterous man being soft with his words for once. “Don’t do that to me, okay? You can always talk to me. I’m always going to be here for you- you don’t have to _disappear_ into some weird portal and just, and just _leave_ me like that, the Hermits care about you, we care about you, _I_ care about you-”

The scent in the air shifted and Doc frowned. Ren got like this when the full moon was coming, whip quick and sharp with his emotions in the worst way. “I’m sorry, Ren.” He said. Ren immediately deflated and let out a long sigh.

“I know the second I let myself sleep you’re going to get up and get back to work.”

“You’re right.”

“That’s the worst part. Seriously, Doc,” Ren looked up from the fire, bright blue eyes turned green by the warm light of the fire. “you have to take _care of yourself_ , dude. This isn’t healthy. I know we have respawn and that’s- that’s great, but you’re not doing yourself any favours.”

“I’ll be fine once I have Etho and Beef.” Promised Doc.

“That’s not the point,” Ren said. “I miss them too. God I miss them, Doc. But we don’t even know if they’re out here.” Ren didn’t stop when Doc began to growl. “The rest of us are all still here, are we not? We’re trying to take care of you and you’re just running yourself into the ground over and over and over because apparently we’re not enough. Don’t you realize that we’re your family too? That we want to be here for you? That running away to a world that almost killed _all_ of us was selfish and unfair?”

“They’re my pack.” Doc snarled.

“You’re _my_ pack.” Retorted Ren. The noise died in Doc’s throat. He stared at the green vine wrapped around his leg with a passion and didn’t dare look at Ren, able to picture the hurt there all on his own.

“Okay Doc. You win.” The man said, voice small and defeated. “I’m going to bed.”

Doc watched Ren retreat into the barracks. The creeper breathed in the sulfur of the netherack and the char of the firepit and the earth of the jungle. He heard every rustle in the leaves and the snores coming from the barracks. He knew this was far from the NHO. The Hermits were amazing, each in their own right, but Doc owed his _life_ to Etho and Beef. It was only fair for him to risk his life saving them, wasn’t it? Ren had to understand that somewhere inside of him.

It was a hard realization when Doc tried to reverse the roles, imagining Bdubs working himself to the brink of death. Doc could imagine how worried Beef would be, the upset Etho held as he brought Bdubs to bed, how firm his own hand would be.

As much as he wanted to keep working, Doc got to his feet. He left the campfire to burn itself into ashes and crept into the barracks as softly as his metal limbs would allow. Bdubs’ snoring covered any creaking wood, and Doc sat on the bed Ren was curled up on, a tight, angry ball of one of werewolf waiting to turn.

“Shove over.” Doc said. Ren looked up from where he cradled his head with his arms and hesitantly shuffled over to give the creeper room. Doc laid on the stiff bed with the hard pillow and pulled some of the scratchy blanket away from Ren to cover his legs. Laying flat on his back, looking up at the bunk above where Bdubs was snoring, Doc tucked his hands under his head and sighed. “G’night, Ren.”

The angry ball that was Ren flipped over to face Doc before his eyes slammed shut, a very simple way of telling the creeper Ren was still (rightfully) upset. “Goodnight Docm77.”


	19. Chapter Fourteen

Sunlight wafted into the barracks through the window, splitting the two sides of the small cabin in half. The air was still and quiet and the morning was peaceful until Bdubs groaned and stretched out his limbs on the top bunk wedged into the back-right corner. He flung himself over the ladder and padded outside, footfalls soft in hope not to wake anyone, but he had never remembered Doc’s super-senses before and didn’t then.

Rekindling the fire, Bdubs was hoping to have breakfast for everyone before the group woke up. The tinder had caught and was slowly growing to a size where Bdubs could add logs as he dug through Doc’s chest for something to cook and the man himself stepped out of the barracks, smoothing down the lapel of his lab coat.

Bdubs threw him a smile and began laying strips of pork on the cooking rack of the fire. “That thing is disgusting. Why do you still wear it?”

“I…” Doc bunched the fabric in his hands, holding the creased lapels closer to his chest. “I don’t have anything else I would wear.”

“There _has_ to be a Hermit that has a shirt that would fit you.” Bdubs chuckled, sitting in front of the fire. He didn’t watch Doc very slowly peel his destroyed coat off and tuck it in his lap when he sat across from the man. It was no surprise the creeper was still as muscular, having to had trained the natural side of his body to match the shape and weight of the cybernetic arm in order to stay balanced. But with the way Doc had been taking care of himself, the muscle had become wiry, exposed under his skin with no fat to hold the layers apart. Bdubs frowned at the ribs that still poked through Doc’s chest and laid more meat over the fire as he flipped the first batch.

“Are you okay, Doc?” Bdubs asked. He tilted his head and shrunk into himself to appear as least threatening as possible, but Doc curled his knees to his chest, the bundle of his coat pressing into his empty stomach. Even before he was taken by the jungle, Bdubs hadn’t seen what Doc was doing in a while, even more surprised by the soft, scared hiss the creeper began making. “I’m- I’m not _mad_ , dummy. I’m worried about you.”

“I lost you,” Doc whispered. “I don’t want to lose you again.”

“Oh, Doc, you stupid.” Bdubs said affectionately. “I’m okay, yeah? Look at me. I’m- I’m fine! I’m Bdubs! Nothing can kill Bdubs!”

“Yeah?” Doc said. There was bitterness in his tone and when he wasn’t wrapping his tongue around English he was ceaselessly hissing as anxiety worked its way through him. “What about Etho and Beef?”

That made Bdubs go quiet. He had been trying not to think about it. Why _he_ was the one who escaped wherever he had been for a year. Why he had fallen from the sky over and over and over before being _lucky_ enough to land in Keralis’ pool. He had been trying not to think about Etho and Beef, and where they were. He had been blocking out the year he had missed, pretending it didn’t happen. Bdubs was scared of how much Doc had changed without the NHO. He was scared about how much he missed. And as badly as Bdubs wanted to go back to the old days, to the ways things were, he didn’t think it was ever going to happen.

“Are _you_ mad at _me_?” He asked.

“Yes,” Doc said too quickly. “I don’t want to be. I don’t have any right to be.”

“No. You don’t.”

“I’m mad you left me, that you all just left me in that Jungle, I’m mad that you came back and thought that you could just blow me off, I’m mad that you don’t care like I care because- because I thought we were a pack-” Doc cut himself off and deflated, meeting Bdubs eye with a fury the man thought was reserved only for La Revolution. “I thought we were a _family_. You made a monster and then you just left it behind.”

It felt like Doc had punched Bdubs in the stomach. Hadn’t Doc left them behind? He wanted to slap himself then, for thinking like that. Bdubs knew Doc hadn’t wanted to leave the jungle, Xisuma told him, and Bdubs was just searching for blame he could pin on someone else. “Doc, I-”

“Save it.” Said the creeper. He got to his feet and his lab coat fell next to the fire. He opened his palm, and from the barracks came swinging his trident. Someone inside yelped and the metal landed in Doc’s palm with a _tunk_ and the creeper gave Bdubs a final glare before throwing his trident into the key block as hard as he could and disappearing through the piston door. Bdubs felt a ache his chest open up, trying to swallow him whole.

“Doc, you can’t just summon your trident like that dude, you nearly took off my head-” Ren said, stumbling over himself as he exited the barracks. He looked around the campsite and frowned, pushing back his hair and looking at Bdubs, who was curled up next to the fire in a tiny ball of pity. Ren could smell the sadness on him, literally. “Uh. Where’s Doc, dude?”

“He left.” Said Bdubs’, and his voice cracked.

For the duration of the trip, which in reality wasn’t that long, Ren had been pretty harsh on Bdubs. He liked to blame it on the eve of the full moon looming ever closer, but Ren knew it was more or less for his personal bias against the man. Yes, Ren loved Bdubs, and they had been friends before the NHO became a royal pain in his backside (even though they were still somewhat friends as that war raged on). But, Bdubs had caused Doc a lot of pain, and Ren was tired of watching his best friend run in circles for someone who wouldn’t do the same for him.

Now, Ren felt very, very bad. Bdubs looked so small where he sat and the food was beginning to burn and with a huff, Ren sat right next to Bdubs and wiggled closer until they were practically leaning on each other. Bdubs was stiff and didn’t move, and Ren didn’t blame him as he flipped the meat and let it cook a little longer.

“Doc is stupid.” Ren said softly. “He lashes out when he doesn’t mean to.”

“But he was _right_.” Bdubs sniffled, wiping his eyes.

“Well, it hurts more when he’s right.” Ren chuckled, curling his arm around Bdubs’ shoulders. “But, and I know this better than anyone, Doc really cares about you, dude. He went through all the stages of grief and then some over you guys. The first time I saw him smile in a long time is when we went and got him out of Area 77.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Bdubs said miserably.

“Sure am. Is it working?” Grinned Ren.

“Stupid,” Hissed Bdubs, leaning into Ren’s side.

“Right back at chya dude.”

“I smell food, I smell food,” Chanted none other than Grian, walking out of the barracks with a grin as he wrestled his sweater back on over his head. “Morning guys!”

“Morning Gri,” Ren smiled, holding out a plate of pork. “Bdubs made some food if you’re hungry.”

“Sure am! Thanks Bdubs. It was really fun working with you yesterday, by the way,” Grinned Grian, sitting on the other side of Ren with a big smile. “Sucks we won’t get much use out of it. I really love your building style. The detail is insane.”

Ren has a knowing smirk. Grian could go on and on about building if you let him, like Mumbo could redstone. Maybe that’s why they were such good friends, he reasoned as Mumbo pulled himself out of the barracks too. He looked kind of ridiculous in his suit, but at least the man had lost his jacket and his tie was looser than usual to accommodate the jungle heat. Mumbo sat next to Grian with a grin and a good morning, happily accepting his share of breakfast.

“So Scar and Doc are already back at it tearing down the jungle, huh?” Grian asked around a mouthful of food.

“Huh?” Replied Bdubs.

“They’re not in the barracks,” Explained Mumbo. “I was the last one up. Grian woke me.”

“I’ve been up since sunrise. Doc was here, but Scar sure wasn’t.”

Ren and Grian paused around their food. “I’m sorry, what?” Grian said, feeling something sinking in his stomach.

The werewolf was already on his feet. He grabbed a random sword from where it leaned on the wall and began rucking through some of the shulkers the group had brought in search for armor. “We have to warn Doc, we gotta find him dude, oh brother,” he hissed, clipping his backplate and chestplate together and throwing the nearest trident into the key block before anyone else could slow him down. Ren disappeared through the piston door and Grian was quick to follow, leaving Bdubs and Mumbo to look at each other.

“This is pants, isn’t it?” Mumbo sighed, trying to ignore the fear bubbling inside of him as he stood.

“Tell me about it.” Agreed Bdubs, feeling just a little nauseous as he reached for his diamond boots.

On the other side of the netherack wall, Ren had his nose in the air, looking along the paths that Doc could have gone down. Grian was watching him, trying not to smirk, because this was _serious_ time. When he had the intelligent thought not to make fun of Ren, the man was already tearing down a path to the right.

“Scar is that way!” He shouted, pointing down another path. “Go get him, I’ll get Doc!”

Standing there, dumfounded by the werewolf’s command, Grian felt his mouth opening and closing like the cod everyone made fun of him for looking like. By the time he had processed what Ren had shouted, Mumbo and Bdubs stood at his side. Grian rubbed his face with his empty hand and squeezed the pummel of his sword just a littler tighter before leading them down the path Ren had pointed to (he hoped).

“Scar is this way, Ren said.” Grian huffed, deciding the world was ending around him and he might as well sprint. Bdubs and Mumbo shared a glance before bolting off after him, the three making their way through the trail. There was nothing but greenery, the crushed leaves of the path and the trees so plentiful and old they were walls around the Hermits. Grian felt himself begin to panic and he looked forwards, the path near endless in a perfectly straight line. “SCAR! SCAR!”

“SCAR, BUDDY!” Shouted Bdubs, panting as he pushed himself further.

“WHERE ARE YOU DUDE!?” Aided Mumbo, watching Grian push himself further and further ahead on lithe feet. The builder always was quick.

“WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!” Grian promised into the jungle air, not sure if it was reassurance for Scar or a threat for whatever force in the jungle was taking his friends. He stopped momentarily to sheathe his sword, because running with blades is dangerous, sprinting even faster now that his hands were free. The months Grian had been with the Hermits were amazing, but as his eyes ached from the assault of green on them, he was really doubting his life choices. Tears stung Grian’s eyes and he told himself it was because of the wind, not the promise of upset in Xisuma’s eyes if Grian had to explain he had failed _again_. “HOLD ON SCAR!”

“O-woAH! AH!” Bdubs shouted behind him, forcing Grian to screech to a halt.

“I got you!” Rang Mumbo’s voice. When Grian turned on his heel, his stomach tried to fall and rise in his throat at the same time and he went dizzy as his brain struggled to process what was happening in front of him.

Above four feet in the air was Bdubs, a thick vine coiled around his neck and several smaller ones curled around his torso and his legs. The man was pulling at the one around his neck, short nails useless against the vines, and Mumbo was holding onto Bdubs’ ankle as tightly as he could, trying to pull Bdubs back to the ground. Advancing forwards as if to help, Grian felt as if he watched in slow motion.

The vines around Bdub’s leg shot out and wrapped around Mumbo’s wrist. Before the redstone could pull away, they spiraled up his arm and curled around his chest, trapping Mumbo in their grip just as securely. Grian tried to draw his sword, heat pounding in his ears as the vines roiled, Bdubs gasping for air and Mumbo’s legs kicking as he tried to get back onto the ground himself. Sweaty hands slipped on the hilt of Grian’s sword as Bdubs scream was strangled by the vine, his body being pulled into the foliage at the edge of the path, the leaves opening as if to swallow him with Mumbo not too far behind.

Grian was about to lose two of his friends. He thought about the rage that would fall upon him when Doc learned Grian had let Bdubs be taken again. He thought about losing Mumbo, about turning into a shell grief left behind like Doc, always searching for something to fill that void. There was the fear of retaliation, of peaceful Xisuma blowing up with anger and Doc’s trident planting itself in Grian’s chest.

And as Bdubs disappeared into the tree line and Mumbo’s pained eyes met his, Green knew he wasn’t going to let it happen. He held his hands out in front of him and focused as much as he could, reaching for what he had kept hidden for years. Power exploded at his finger tips and sent him sprawling back, eyes blinking open at the open morning sky above him. His cheek was throbbing and so was his shoulder, and someone was shouting.

Once Grian’s ears stopped ringing he rolled on his knees, the realization he was in the middle of the fight hitting him with the rest of his senses. And yet, as he got to his feet and _finally_ drew his sword, Grian realized all the trees within twenty feet of them had been knocked down in a radius that had clearly originated from the builder. Ten feet in front of him, Bdubs laid on the ground unmoving, the vines that had trapped him cut off from their initial source dead on the ground around him. Mumbo stood, albeit shakily, five feet from him with giant, scared eyes.

Not having time to explain, Grian ran to Bdubs’ side. He rolled the man onto his back and brought his head to his chest, listening for a pulse. Something was there, and Bdubs’ was breathing, but Grian knew they couldn’t progress like this. He threw his head back, praying sound traveled. “REN! DOC! OVER HERE!” He screamed, his throat raw from the volume.

Falling to his knees on Bdubs other side was Mumbo, panting as he rubbed where the vines had left reddening marks on his skin. “Grian.”

“Not now,” Snapped the man in question. He met Mumbo’s eyes as the bushes to their right began to shake. “please.”

Doc and Ren burst from the bushes and Mumbo and Grian quickly moved back when they saw Doc’s expression. The creeper knelt next to Bdubs, hands shaky as he fumbled with the man in front of him. Going over all the same drills as Grian, Doc felt for his pulse, for Bdubs’ breath, and heaved the man into his arms before standing up. “It was stupid of you to come here.” He snarled at the group, holding Bdubs close like he could break and beginning the trek back to the camp they had built.


	20. Chapter Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again I have received an amazing gifted work, this one for ~Family Issues~  
> If everyone could please go give CrepeHC (CrepeAi) a look and appreciate their work it would be so lovely. I want to thank everyone again for all the support and kudos and comments and aaaa!

“What the hell happened?” Demanded Ren, looking at the decimated forest. Black stained all the plant life, eating away at the greenery much more slowly than the original blast. Whatever the magic touched had either died or was in the process of withering. The scene was eerie with the bright jungle sun raining down on the blackened soil. Mumbo was still staring at Grian, slack-jawed, but a pointed look was all he needed to take a shaky breath and get to his feet.

“Vines shot out of the trees and got Bdubs. It’s all so pants, dude, I tried to grab him but they picked me up too. I was lifted into the air before I could do anything.” Mumbo swallowed as he rubbed his forehead and looked at Grian, expecting him to finish the story.

The builder knew that Ren had knowledge of his magic ever after the whole Banning Doc scare a few days ago. Alas, Grian still wasn’t ready to share his void magic with anyone other than those who could guess it- aka Xisuma and unfortunately Doc. Ren was looking around with wide eyes, and now that his heart wasn’t beating out of his chest, so was Grian. The area truly was destroyed, trees having fallen, the plant life reduced to ashes, the ground covered in purple and black dust. He hadn’t know he was capable of that. Grian was going to be sick.

“Okay, but how did this happen?” Ren asked, gesturing to the blackness around them. “Why didn’t the vines go for Grian? Or- if they’re out- _hunting_ , me or Doc?”

It clicked for Grian. “The vines only go after humans.”

“Hold on,” Said Mumbo. “so what you’re implying is that _you’re_ not human? Gri, what are you talking about?”

“It’s- it’s a lot to explain, okay?” Grian said, fever rising in his cheeks as he turned away from his two friend’s glares. He began walked towards the path on the other side of the destruction, hoping to brush away the weight of what he just said with the far heavier absence of Scar. “I’ll give you an explanation when we find Scar. I’m not just turning around and going back to camp after that.”

“Well, I don’t mean to push my dude, but we’re currently walking through a forest so I feel like this is the perfect time to dish!” Proclaimed Ren, running after Grian. Poor Mumbo, who truly had been dragged along for the ride, rubbed his face and jogged to catch up because he refused to be alone in this forest for even a second.

“Can you smell Scar out again?” Requested Grian, expertly dodging Ren’s unfortunately good point. “Is he still this way or should we turn around?”

That got him a suspicious glare, Ren keeping eye contact like a challenge as he nose twitched. “Yeah. This path smells stronger of him than the others, but I really doubt whatever monster took him is using the paths Doc made.”

“Good,” Grian said, voice tight with a held in sigh as he began marching down the path, away from the destruction he caused.

Mumbo and Ren shared a worried look. They didn’t need to say anything to agree that they worried for Grian and were more than scared about what he had just done and implied. But, the man was quickly disappearing into the green foliage in front of them, and they didn’t have time to watch him flex his shoulders like something heavy was resting on them. Grian had his sword tight in his hand now, refusing to let the jungle catch him unarmed once more. Ren kept his nose to the sky, trying to find where the scent deviated. Mumbo, well, he was more worried about his friends than anything, gripping a sword he didn’t know how to use tight in hopes whatever was hunting them would see it and run.

There was silence over the group. Grian wasn’t interested in talking one bit and even if Ren had questions, he had to hone his senses to help them locate Scar and speaking would not help. If Grian could feel Mumbo’s eyes in the back of his head he didn’t show it, and Mumbo knew he was staring, but Grian looked human- didn’t he? He had never said anything that would lead to Mumbo even considering something else until just now. Grian was just your average human- Mumbo knew he didn’t have any cybernetics like Iskall or Doc (or if that would count as no longer being human), Grian didn’t have any extra limbs or extremities, and he certainly wasn’t like Xisuma; who looked human but needed respirator to breathe and was very open with his past as a Voidkind.

Who _was_ Grian?

When Mumbo first met him, he had had no doubt that Grian was a good guy. He had a rueful smile and a head full of challenges and everything he did with was with a laugh. The world was empty when they arrived, but by the time Mumbo and Grian left it was scattered with strange and beautiful builds and redstone contraptions useless to the men who had been granted creative mode for a short time. When they weren’t building and Grian wasn’t making fun of redstone, they were talking. It was why Mumbo asked Xisuma if Grian could join the Hermits. But not once had Grian said _anything_ about what he had just done.

“Uh, I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but guys,” Ren said, his nose twitching. He reached up to rub at it like it was hurting him and the werewolf squinted into the trees. “Scar just got a whole lot closer.”

“Like what?” Asked Mumbo. “Is he walking towards us?”

“SCAR!?” Shouted Grian. “WE’RE OVER HERE! WE’RE COMING FOR YOU DUDE!”

“Gri, dude, I really don’t think that was our best option.” Ren hissed, voice brought to a whisper. He felt himself instinctually creep closer to Grian and Mumbo, expert eyes scanning the trees for the movement of a potential enemy. Following his lead was Mumbo, crouched in on himself and white-knuckling a sword that looked totally unusual in the fancily dressed man’s hand.

“Well what is he- I don’t know- escaped or something? And is looking for us? SCAAR!” Grian shouted, moving further through the bush. Ren growled under his breath and followed him.

It was clear that you couldn’t tell Ren was a werewolf unless you looked at him. He was perfectly content with his human form, being a normal dude, doing normal dude stuff, but sometimes he was envious of his mutated form, armed with claws and big teeth and moveable ears. He was still awarded the hyper senses around the time of the full moon, and Ren’s very human ears caught sounds in the bushes. But alas, because he could not move them, he had no idea how to pinpoint the sound until it was too late.

The bushes to the left of the path rustled and opened in the blink of an eye. What looked to be a bundle of vines wielding a diamond sword was none other than Scar, and Scar was attacking Grian with said diamond sword.

What had become of their friend was startling to look at to say the least. It was Scar for sure, because his big green eyes were still visible and he looked _terrified_. Vines were curled over his mouth and encircled his throat. More twisted over his chest dozens of times and spiraled down his arms right to his fingers. His legs were more or less bound together, Scar standing on his tippy-toes to avoid being held in the air by this vengeful plant. Whatever the man was shouting was muffled by the vines over his mouth and everyone could see how tense his limbs were and how the vines were controlling his movements.

It was nice to know Scar didn’t mean it when he swung at Grian’s head.

With a yelp, Grian ducked and rolled out of the way of the writhing vines that had appeared on the forest floor. Scar let out a muffled scream and the group watched in mortified wonder as his arms were wrenched up like a zombie, sword clumsily clasped between his palms. It was clear Scar was trying to drop the sword, but more vines were curling around his fists by the second and essentially fused it to his hands. Then, feet dragging on the ground, trying to stop himself, Scar lunged forwards and clumsily drew the sword across Ren’s arm.

The werewolf hissed in pain and quickly backed out of Scar’s range, Mumbo running to cover him while what was left of Xisuma’s Admin magic in this world could heal him. The redstoner held out a sword in front of him shakily, but Scar was turned around sharply and sent barreling towards Grian, sword held out to run Grian through like a javelin.

He waited for the last second to dodge out of the way, Grian dropping to his knees and rolling away from Scar’s flailing legs. He jumped up with a grunt, holding his sword out in front of him in challenge. “Scar, it’s okay, you’re okay- we’re gonna- AH!” Grian was forced to run as Scar was thrown towards him, skipping to the side, but this time whatever was controlling Scar was ready and the blade cut through Grian’s side. The man cried out and collapsed as his muscles spasmed around the wound. Grian grit his teeth around the pain, struggling to get air in his lungs as he felt a vine begin to curl around his wrist.

“Oh, well isn’t this just _bloody_ perfect.” Hissed Mumbo, holding up his sword to Scar. “I’m not going to hurt you dude- just- please don’t kill me!”

Some sort of noise came out of Scar, and he lunged for Mumbo. The redstoner grabbed Ren’s shirt and tripped out of the way, twisting to slash at Scar in a surprisingly graceful maneuver that kept him away from his infected friend’s sword. Mumbo had swung on instinct and was very relived when his sword only cut through the vines connecting Scar to the forest.

The vines around the builder’s left arm fell away. Scar wrenched his free hand from the tangle of vines around the hilt of the sword and began pulling at the greenery around his mouth with muffled anguish when the vines Mumbo had cut grew back, curling around him and flinging him back into battle as tears began to prick his eyes. Mumbo and Ren dodged to the left and right, falling into the dirt of the path with twin grunts as Scar barreled past. Pushing himself up, Mumbo screamed when he saw vines on the forest floor already crawling up his arms. When he looked forwards, he saw Grian completely bound to the forest floor, kicking and struggling as the vines roped him down.

“Scar, dude, we’ll get you out of there!” Ren panted, jumping up to his feet. That was his mistake, Scar lunging for him with his sword. Ren barely parried in time, nodding towards Grian. “Mumbo, get Gri! I’ll hold off Mega Vine Monster dude! Sorry Scar!”

With a clang, Ren twisted his arms and flicked his blade along Scar’s. That move would have disarmed most men, but with Scar’s hands literally bound to the vines Ren realized about two seconds too late it was impossible. He growled and lifted the pummel of his sword now that his and Scar’s where no longer locked together, raising it and bringing it down on Scar’s shoulder. The builder cried out in pain and the wounded shoulder kept moving under the command of the vines. “Oh, crud, sorry Scar!”

While that was happening, Mumbo shook off the vines that had tried to wrap around his wrists and scrambled over to Grian. The redstoner grabbed Grian’s sword where it had fallen next to him and began cutting at the vines closest- those around his legs, as the builder tried to pull the vines that had moved to gag him away from his mouth.

“Grian, another one of those big magic blasts would be really helpful right now!” Mumbo complained, kicking away a vine that curled around his leg and cutting a thick vine around Grian’s middle as Scar’s and Ren’s swords clanged behind him. Grian looked at Mumbo with big eyes, making panicked noises around the vine between his teeth, struggling to break free, and Mumbo’s heart dropped. “You can’t do it again, can you- oh, this brilliant, isn’t it, oh goodness me-”

“AUGH!” Ren cried, Mumbo looking over his shoulder with wide eyes. Scar had left another gouge across Ren’s arm, accompanied by a nick on his cheek and a dark patch of what had to be blood seeping into his pant leg. Ren collapsed when his legs could no longer support him, vines slowly curling around his arms and legs as if in waiting. Scar was wrenched around to face Mumbo and the man scrambled to his feet, reaching for Grian’s sword but it was too late, it had been swallowed by the vines of the forest floor. Mumbo turned to Scar with fear in his eyes and saw it mirrored as the man was dragged closer no matter how much his feet pressed against the forest floor in an attempt to stop his movement.

Once Scar was in stabbing range, he stopped. He fell forwards and Mumbo caught him with a bit of the gasp, seeing none other than Bdubs standing behind him. The man grinned, toothy and rueful and bright, and spun on his heel to begin chopping at the vines that had curled around Ren. Doc was with him, of course, torch in hand, burning the ends of the vines Bdubs cut. The creeper looked fully present for the first time since being in the jungle, his lab coat whipping around him as he spun and ducked under flailing vines to burn where they were trying to regrow. What had taken control of Scar began retreating, burnt and unable to grow back. Once Mumbo’s brain caught up with his eyes, he focused on the builder in his arms and began pulling the writhing ends of now useless vines from his body.

Pulling Ren off the ground and into his arms, Doc gave the werewolf a tight hug. Mumbo had never seen Doc initiate physical contact that went beyond a handshake, let alone a long, tight hug. He didn’t have time to worry about it, though, making sure Scar could stand on his own before helping Bdubs pull Grian out of his green cage. Doc let go of Ren just long enough to burn the ends of the vines so no more could grow back.

Once Grian was on his feet and had caught his breath, Mumbo took Scar’s weight because the man looked nothing short of exhausted. “Well, I’m chuffed to bits with that. C’mere Scar, I have you.” He smiled. He quickly realized Scar was too short to wrap his arm around his shoulder- so Mumbo picked Scar up and began walking down the path. The builder made no protest, just shut his eyes and went slack with a small groan. Grian rushed to Mumbo’s side and Bdubs and Doc helped Ren limp down the path back to camp as his leg tried to heal.

“Are you okay?” Grian asked, voice soft and worried.

“Great,” Murmured Scar with a big sigh. “Tired. Hurts.”

“We’ll get you into bed back at the camp,” Doc promised behind them. “I have a stockpile of healing potions for anyone who needs them.”

“A healing potion sounds _great_ right now.” Ren sighed, head lolling. “I have a _mega_ headache.”

Doc didn’t let anyone see the fear that gripped his heart. The full moon was tonight, and they weren’t at all prepared.


	21. Chapter Sixteen

Everyone was in the camp, alive. The true blessing, however, was that _Doc_ was in the camp, in broad daylight, sitting on the porch of the barracks, giving himself a break. He had put Scar to sleep with a regeneration potion and nursed Ren’s headache with instant health and a warm bed. Bdubs was sitting with Grian and Mumbo around the fire pit, examining the maps Doc had drawn up for them, but Doc kept himself posted outside the door of the barracks. He would protect that doorway with his life, head leaning on the frame as he smiled at his friends.

“So that means Scar was on… this one.” Grian said, pointing to one of the marked paths.

“No, mate, we were here.” Mumbo argued. “Because it wouldn’t have made sense the way Ren and Doc arrived if we were there.”

“I’m inclined to agree with Grian, uh,” Bdubs gave Mumbo a nervous smile. “because when we turned around, we had to walk around this to get to the path back here.”

“Oh.” Mumbo scowled and Doc chuckled.

“You _spoon_.” Grian accused, using a quill to mark off the path. “So Scar was here. And the vines were coming from the left sooo…” His quill scratched across the page.

“Oh, Grian, you genius madman.” Bdubs said in wonder.

“What? Am I missing something? I feel like I’m missing something.” Said Mumbo.

“If Ren and Doc were here and didn’t see anything, but we were over here when we got attacked, it means whatever had Scar has to be positioned somewhere around here.” Grian explained. Doc watched from afar as Grian began drawing on the map once more, and the redstoner realized why Grian had won the prank war all at once. “If we were to walk down these paths and then work or way in with fire, since that seems to be the only thing keeping these plants away, we can find the base of whatever had Scar.”

“And potentially what has Etho and Beef.” Said Bdubs.

“Hopefully,” Added Grian, giving Bdubs a small smile.

“Those paths are underdeveloped.” Doc spoke up. “They don’t go as far as the others because whatever I cut regrew within seconds. We would have to bring enough torches and flint and steel to last a long time. Not to mention swords and axes to get through the worst of the undergrowth.”

“Do we have any fire charges?” Asked Mumbo. “Or TNT, I suppose. I was thinking I could rig up something to expand the paths. It would be faster and less manual work.”

“I have TNT.” Said Doc. “We have to be careful of breaking the earth, however. The root systems are just as bad as the vines and they are a lot more angry.”

“What does that mean?” Grian snorted.

“If you cut a vine, it retreats.” Explained Doc. “I tried to burn a root system. It grew back twice as big.”

“Why does that matter?” Asked Bdubs. “We don’t need the roots, stupid.”

“The bigger the roots, the stronger the plant, _stupid_.” Teased Doc. “We should stay above ground as much as we can. Right now, our best plan is to go with what Grian is saying and get out of here as soon as possible. We grab Etho, we grab Beef, no matter what state they’re in, and we go. Sound good?”

“As good as our only plan can.” Mumbo grumbled.

“Tomorrow at dawn?” Suggested Grian. Doc shuffled in place.

“I think you all should go tonight. I will stay here with Ren.” Doc said quietly. Everyone stopped and looked at him then, varying levels of confusion flashing across their face. They didn’t need to ask for Doc to know he needed to explain (even if he didn’t want to). “It’s the full moon tonight. Ren and I usually have plans for this sort of thing but as you can tell… we’re a little behind.”

“Oh, oh.” Grian frowned, then nodded. “Okay. Cool. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’m half made out of metal. I’ll be fine.”

“You… you’re sure you’re okay with like… missing them?” Asked Bdubs. Grian and Mumbo shared a look over his head and Doc sighed a little, sinking into the doorframe. “I mean, you do you, but… this is sort of your thing…”

“I trust you,” Doc smiled, small and earnest. It was different than the grin Grian knew him for, all sharp teeth and pinned eyes and thinly veiled threats. He looked almost bashful and very much not Doc. What had changed in the twenty minutes Doc was in the camp alone with Bdubs?

\----------

“You’re an idiot, a complete idiot, and I hate you.” Doc growled, laying Bdubs next to the fire. The man wasn’t moving, but bruises were forming along his arms and his neck. Once he was settled in the bright green concrete dust next to the firepit, Doc jumped to his feet and ran for the nearest chest, tearing through the items Grian and Bdubs had tossed in without a care in the world. Throwing three bundles of leather, five pouches of redstone, and ten brambles, Doc’s potion supply was finally open to the world. “You have _no_ organization, you’re a mess, Bdubs, I can’t believe you man- god!”

Doc drew Bdubs into his lap and pressed a regeneration potion to his lips. “You’re so stupid Bdubs, so reckless, I told you one of these days you were going to get yourself hurt I can’t stand you.” Bdubs’ adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and Doc could feel his chest stop seizing. He was laid back in the sand and Doc searched for something he could use as a bandage, grabbing his lab coat where he was left nearby and soaking where the sleeve had been torn off to in turn press it to the bruise on Bdubs’ neck.

“You’re the last one I have.” Doc said, voice high and broken. “You’re so annoying. Why did you have to go off and do that, huh?”

With hands as gentle as they could be, Doc rubbed where he had soaked his lab coat in the potion along all the criss-crossing bruises covering Bdubs’ arms. He reached back up and swiped it over Bdubs’ neck once more, watching the bruises begin to face and Bdubs’ eyelids begin to flutter.

“Hgk.” The human said intelligently.

“The vines hurt your throat. Speaking with strain your vocal chords more than they already are.” Said Doc, helping Bdubs sit up. “Have more potion. You’ll be fine in a second.”

Bdubs’ hands clumsily held the potion bottle and the man didn’t give his usual annoyed huff at Doc’s help. Shivers racked his body for a moment as the overwhelming feeling of pure regeneration potion effects flooded through him, gasping for breath even if his throat ached. Once his head stopped swimming and Doc’s hands left him, Bdubs immediately surged up and grabbed Doc by the shoulders.

“Doc, ugh, Doc, I am _so_ sorry.” A whimper broke him and tears began to well in his eyes. “I was being so, so selfish and I’m the stupid one! I’m the stupid one! I’m sorry we all disappeared on you and I’m sorry I never realized what that meant to you! What _we_ meant to you! I’m dumb, I was dumb Doc, and I’m sorry!”

The shoulders under his hands were frozen. Doc seemed stuck in time for a second, his natural eye blinking dumbly. The shutters behind the glass of his eye flapped open and closed and his arm recalibrated next to Bdubs before all the plates shut and ground together with a sickening _crunch_. Then Bdubs was held just as tight as the day he first saw Doc in front of the infinity portal, big, mismatched arms crushing him with a ferocity Bdubs was rather scared of.

But, in that moment, he sighed hard and hugged back, squeezing his eyes shut to push away the tears. “We are a family, okay? We are. And I’m sorry you weren’t feeling that- and I wasn’t doing a good enough job-”

“Stop talking.” The creeper hissed, reverberating in his chest. Bdubs finally melted into the too-tight embrace and nodded.

“Okay.”

It felt like the hole in Doc’s chest was stitching itself back together. Like all the regeneration potions and instant health and Admin magic was finally healing him the way they promised. Doc tucked his face into Bdubs’ hair and was _so_ upset that Bdubs and Ren just _had_ to be right in the end. He felt so happy he could cry, curled up on a mockery of the NHO’s beach Iskall would be too delighted to see, one of his best friends clutched in his arms. The pain of losing him was finally gone, and the man was finally back, and Doc would tear down the entire jungle if it meant he could hold Etho and Beef the same.

And he did, because when he and Bdubs finally pulled apart, they heard yelling from the other end of the forest.

Seriously, what is it with Hermits and peace and quiet?

\----------

“I need to be here for Ren, anyways.” The creeper added.

“Right,” Said Bdubs, wearing a shy smile.

Doc looked over his shoulder, scowling at the darkened hall of the barracks. “I think Scar is up. Give me a second man.” He said, pulling himself to his feet and walking into the shadow. Bdubs gave Grian and Mumbo a nod, clambering to his feet and grabbing some healing potions from the nearby chest before chasing after Doc.

It was at that time that Grian say the perfect opportunity to curl into himself, already able to taste the question on Mumbo’s lips as he buried his chin where his arms were wrapped around his knees.

“So,” Mumbo said. “you wanna talk about it?”

“No,” _But I speak from experience when I say, you should try to tell someone. Mumbo, perhaps? You’ll feel better when you do._ “But I will.”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, Gri.” Mumbo’s voice was too level for the eccentric redstoner.

“You’re not,” Grian spat out. “I need to tell someone eventually and you- you’re my best friend, Mumbo. I shouldn’t be keeping this sort of stuff from you.”

By the good graces of whatever controlled fate, Mumbo stayed quiet. In the silence, Grian took deep breaths to steady his heartrate before slowly forcing himself to unravel and sit more openly. He even shuffled around to face Mumbo, but Grian couldn’t convince himself to meet Mumbo’s eyes.

“When I was a teenager, I lived in a big city. Me and my friend Taurtis met a guy named Sam in highschool. This city- the world it was in- was permadeath. No respawn, no do-over. If you were dead you were dead.” Mumbo watched as Grian’s voice began to shake. He knew how hesitant Grian was to die to anything, but he had always contributed it to the annoyance all Hermits felt at losing their best pickaxe in a cave. “Sam went… Sam went crazy. He started killing people- and he- he killed Taurtis. I was… the _replacement_.”

The redstoner couldn’t breathe. From the look of Grian, he couldn’t either. He wasn’t meant for stillness, Mumbo thought, looking at the way Grian cradled his shaking hands in his lap and tried to hold in tears. “So I ran away. I’m- I’m really good at running away, actually,” Grian tried to laugh, but he just sounded sad. “I was the first one in the world I found. I was made Admin, which was fine, because it was just me. But then other people started showing up, and they expected me to take care of them.” Even if Grian’s face was red with unshed tears and he was trying not to shake, there was a fond look in his eyes. “We were the Evolutionists. I wasn’t the best Admin- I didn’t know what I was doing, but it was good. We lived the old way and it was good. I even managed to summon Taurtis, which was crazy, but it worked… that’s what I did when I went through the infinity portal the first time. I went back to Evo and I tried to summon everyone.”

Grian seemed to be finished. He chewed on his lip and looked in his lap and Mumbo shuffled closer. He had questions, and Bdubs and Doc were still absent from the fire so now was the best time. “What happened to Evo, Gri?”

“The Watchers.” Grian sounded _haunted_. Mumbo shivered. “They took me. They said I was a bad Admin and the damage I had done had to be corrected. Evo survived for bit- without me- but that’s exactly what the Watchers didn’t want. They killed everyone. Tore down the server. And uh, Watchers are Voidkind. If you die by Voidkind, you don’t come back. Ever.” Grian sniffled and drew his knees to his chest, hugging them close and trying to hide behind them. “When I escaped the Deep End, I jumped world to world hoping they’d lose track of me. When I met you… I don’t know. I thought it had been long enough. You made Hermitcraft sound so amazing, and it is. I just… thought this part of me was gone by now.”

“Grian, mate, can I hug you?” Mumbo asked. Grian finally met his eyes to nod and Mumbo drew him close, the hug too hot for jungle heat and too tight to be comfortable but it was just right because Grian needed it. He swallowed down his tears and leaned into Mumbo with a sigh. It was quiet for a moment, until Mumbo pressed his face into Grian’s hair. “Thank you for telling me. It’s okay Grian, it’s okay. You’re safe with us, I promise. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

What did he know?


	22. Chapter Seventeen

“This is heaviest bag I’ve ever carried in my life,” Complained Mumbo, weighed down with enough torches to set the world ablaze and then some along with about three dozen reinforced leads.

“Calm down, drama queen.” Teased Bdubs, grabbing his brand-new diamond axe from the anvil. “The faster we get in and get out the less heavy your bag will be.”

While Bdubs and Mumbo were loading themselves up with heavy equipment, Grian was quietly checking the swords and axes on his belt and the harness of his elytra. They had somewhat of a plan of what to do, and Grian hated that he was an integral part of it (they all were, but that wasn’t helping his anxiety). Bdubs would go first, taking out anything that came their way with his axe. Mumbo would follow close behind with a lit torch and burn the ends of whatever Bdubs brought down. Overhead, Grian would fly above the treeline and search for movement in the canopy. If Mumbo or Bdubs called for him, he would join them on the forest floor. Once they had found Etho and Beef, they would cut them free, tie them up, and settle down in the secondary campsite they had built in case Ren hadn’t gotten control of himself by the time they returned where Scar was waiting.

Sunset was upon them. The long shadows of the jungle stretched closer and closer to the camp and as Grian watched them fall over the firepit where Ren was laying, shaking with an awful fever and whimpering, he felt nauseous.

Doc caught him staring. Grian couldn’t tell what the creeper knew, or what he was pretending to know, or anything about the man really. He was interesting to say the least and when the builder went to advert his gaze in hopes Doc would just let his staring slide the man chuckled. It was a weird laugh, Grian decided, scary and endearing all at once.

“He’ll be fine.” Doc said from where he was seated next to Ren. The werewolf pressed his face into his friends’ knee and Doc put his metal hand over the nape of Ren’s neck calmly, something a lot like… purring rumbling through him. Did creepers purr?

“Will you?” Grian found himself asking. Doc picked up his trident from the sand next to him and lobbed it into the key block, nodding towards the exit.

“Right as rain, man. Get going. And come back. All of you.”

At that point, Grian was sure Doc was purring. He gave his friend (wow, Doc and Grian were friends. Wild.) a small smile and walked to the door where Mumbo and Bdubs were waiting. The three took a deep breath all together and laughed it out at the irony. As they walked away from the camp, the first beams of moonlight began to wash over the forest, and a loud crack and dog-like yelp was heard from the camp.

Everyone looked at each other. There was a long whine that cut through the night and distant hushing that followed it. The group stopped walking for a moment as fear and guilt and worrying rolled through them.

“Should we go back?” Asked Bdubs.

“No,” Mumbo frowned. “the sooner we do this, the sooner we go home. The sooner Ren and Scar go home- where they can be safe.”

“Okay. Okay.” Grian steeled himself and flashed his friends a smile. “Up I go. Goodluck guys, and remember, scream if you need me.”

Bdubs and Mumbo watched quietly as Grian double-checked his rocket sling and flicked open his elytra. Pulling on the tag of the rockets and leaping into the sky, Grian circled over head calmly and with careful precision, a shadow lit by moonlight along the edges. Mumbo sighed as he looked at the ghostly figure of his friend and Bdubs nudged him with his elbow. “Stop staring, stupid. Lets go find the NHO.”

“Yeah, let’s.” Mumbo said, looking at the bright green plant life turned sickly grey but the moonlight that stood proudly between each of the paths Grian had marked off the map. The redstoner hesitantly struck up a torch along an exposed rock on the path and held it out in front of them. “This is pants.”

“I like how you say that like I know what I means- aha!” Bdubs’ brow was creased with worry despite his smile and he marched right up to the nearest tree before digging in his axe. “This would be so much easier if X didn’t leave firetick off.”

“It’s fine,” Promised Mumbo as the tree fell and he burnt the base of the stump. “It will just take us a little longer, but I think that’s what Doc wants right now.”

“Cause he’s stupid.” Grunted Bdubs, lobbing his axe at the base of a particularly large bush and watching it fall into the range of Mumbo’s torch. The redstoner behind him chuckled, and they tried to keep nice chit chat as they brought down the jungle ground them. It lasted for something like twenty minutes, idle chat about the Hermits and the world waiting for them through the portal. Eventually, Bdubs was sweating from throwing his axe around and Mumbo’s hands were clammy around his third torch, sweating in the muted jungle heat and wretched humidity.

It took them long enough, but they fell into a pattern. So far they had approached no moving jungle and it was easy enough to chop, slide out of the way, hold up a torch, chop, slide out of the way, hold up a torch.

Thank god there’s no mobs in this jungle, Grian thought as he watched the torch light below sway and bob. Up above the treeline was eerily peaceful. The moon was twice as bright, the sky clear and open and littered with millions of stars. Below, the thick canopy could almost be an open field of grass for Grian to land on; the only giveaways being the gentle drift of voices, _thunk_ of an axe, and the swaying torch light.

And the pained howl that reverberated through the jungle, but Grian tried not to think of that as a shiver ran through his body.

Twisting his elytra, Grian careened into a circle to avoid flying too far ahead of Mumbo and Bdubs. Still in the ever so peaceful air, he tilted his trajectory and looked ahead at there the paths ended and the jungle became a thick thatch of green. He took a deep breath and tried to focus tired eyes on the endless landscape of grey and green, forcing himself to push forwards with another echo of a rocket. The world was quiet and still and Grian felt a moment of reprieve when- not the branches- but the _trees_ ahead of Mumbo and Bdubs began to sway.

“ACTION AHEAD!” He shouted to his friends below, looking with big, scared eyes as two tall and thick trees began to shake like the earth was splitting in that one place.

Of course, much like he _should have_ learned form their encounter with Scar, shouting was not his best plan. A plethora of bright green vines rose from the canopy and Grian screamed as they shot towards him. He was lucky for his skill with elytra, dodging and weaving the vines as he gasped for air at the sudden movement. He twisted and swerved as more and more of the writhing green vines joined him in the air, but ultimately, there were too many, and a vine curled around Grian’s ankle before dragging him down to the canopy

“MUMBO!” Grian shouted, kicking and shaking and trying to break free. “BDUBS! HELP! HEEELP!”

Branches and leaves cracked and whipped against his skin as the vines pulled him towards the earth, leaving cuts across his body and shredding his sweater and jeans. His elytra were torn from his body and his rocket sling fell off, prompting Grian to scream louder and louder as every inch of his skin began to sting with a thousand cuts and bruises.

The vines that had at first been curled around his ankle and his shoulders were wrapping more and more around the builder’s body as he got closer to the ground. His arms were bound in a way his left hand was pressed under his chin and his right against his side, and his legs were stuck together so tightly Grian swore he couldn’t feel his toes. He knew it was coming, so Grian screamed and screamed as loud as he could until the vines began twisting around his mouth to silence him. He was laying on the ground now, writhing in his green binds.

“GRIAN!” He heard Mumbo shout, and Grian squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to escape one more time. Yet, it proved futile, as Grian was being dragged across the forest floor. He wasn’t sure whether to be thankful for his vine prison or not, because while rocks still slammed into his shoulders and left him breathless or twigs scratched across his exposed face, Grian knew it wasn’t half as bad as it could have been if he were uncovered.

Panic was rising in his chest now that Grian couldn’t scream it all out. The thunder of his heart was just background noise to the roar of the jungle around him. The builder was about to pass out, really, he was going to pass out and be swallowed by the jungle, never to be seen again, and it was going to suck.

Grian was no longer being dragged along the jungle floor at break neck speeds. He was being dragged along the jungle floor at normal speeds.

The foliage around him parted. Twigs no longer scratching across his face, Grian weakly opened his eyes, which hurt a lot more than it should have. His eyes focused just in time for him to see the vines pulling him into the giant, open maw of a stone skull. He was pulled along the polished floors of whatever temple he had just entered and the battered man gave one last attempt at escape as he was heaved off the floor and forced into a standing position.

It was dark. Grian was panting the best one can through his nose, lightheaded and achy and he tried to force his eyes to see in the pitch blackness of the temple. The vines around him slowly became looser, Grian breaking his arms free with a victorious whine before the same vines that had been binding them to his chest curled down his limbs from his shoulders to his finger tips and took control of his motor functions.

The vines were strong. The vines should not have been that strong. Slowly, his eyes adjusted, as Grian felt his limbs being rearranged into attention. It was then, Grian realized he wasn’t alone in the temple.

If it wasn’t for the vines curled over his mouth, Grian would have screamed.

The man never met Etho or Beef. He was being completely honest, he had no idea what they looked like. But whatever was standing in front of him, Grian could only pray they were never, ever Hermits.

They were human, sure. Bone thin, wrapped up in vines similar to himself. Their mouths were uncovered and seemingly stuck open, lax, their eyes dull and dead. The vines held them much more loosely, but still they stood at attention (if you didn’t count the lolling of their heads). Moss had grown over their skin in places, leaves poking from various wounds. Grian gagged and for once thanked the vines for helping him keep his mouth shut.

A dull red eye flickered up to look at Grian. The builder wanted to stop breathing, to stop being there, he was going to cry- where was Mumbo- was Bdubs- were they okay?

He gasped when the two monsters in front of him wrenched their heads to the entrance of the building. Grian could see their feet dragging as they were pulled out of the room by the vines, leaving him in empty darkness with only the thumping of his heart to keep him company.

Next to him, an End portal gurgled.


	23. Chapter Eighteen

The world was swimming.

There was a deep ache in his chest, and regular aches everywhere else. Aka, Ren was in excruciating pain and he wanted to scream. When he bit his tongue, teeth sharper than he remembered them filled his mouth with blood. He could hear talking, and the voices were too loud, but somehow it was so loud Ren couldn’t understand what the voices were saying.

An unflinchingly cold hand was on the back of Ren’s neck, and he realized he was burning up. A whine bubbled up in his throat and scorched his vocal chords and twisted his bleeding tongue and Ren pushed into the hand for comfort. When his nose tucked against scratchy, cool material Ren was able to register how much _more_ everything smelled. Distantly, the werewolf knew he recognized this smell, but for now he would shake under the cool hand, the solid fingers carefully working along the tense muscles in his neck.

Everything felt the tiniest bit better when whatever was rubbing his neck, was letting him hide his face, started rumbling. It was soothing, gentle vibrations and low noises that didn’t hurt Ren’s too-sensitive ears.

Ren bit on his tongue when _whoever_ he was leaning on shuffled, swallowing down a whimper as his aching chest was shaken. There was a clang and Ren reached for his ears and the cool hand pressed harder into his neck. It was easy to focus on the hand, forget that he had hands of his own, or legs, or anything else really. All of Ren was pinpointed on that hand and he tried to melt into the grip more than he already was. The rumbling was back and when Ren tried to mimic the sound, a scratchy growl passed through his clenched teeth instead.

“Shhh,” the low rumbles turned into a voice and Ren found the ringing in his ears (his ears were ringing?) was subsiding at the baritone of the voice. Ren could almost relax, could stop feeling the pain still coursing through him, could almost block out everything but the person who was trying to help him when everything began to fall apart.

The werewolf let out a screech, which came out more like a bark, as he felt the first waves of changing over take him. The cold hand on his neck pressed harder, forever grounding, and Ren would have choked on a sob if he could have gotten his lungs to work. It felt like his _bones_ were breaking, and the worst thing was is that they _were_. Ren couldn’t move, could only writhe in the sand (? Sand isn’t green) underneath him as the cool hand slowly sucked up the overwhelming heat in his body and began to warm itself. Ren whined at the loss and another cool hand (albeit nowhere close to the first one) carefully carded through his hair.

“You’re okay,” the voice promised, and something awful and angry and primal grew in Ren’s chest at that, because he was very clearly _not_ okay, everything _hurt_ , he was going to _die_ , and his lungs ached around the air he forced into them as another wave of white-hot, minding numbing pain shot up his spine and trickled down all the way to his finger tips and toes. “Shhh, Ren, you’re going to be okay. Shh.”

The man could run a mile fueled only by the anger boiling in his chest. He could feel the pain ebbing away, and his fingers aching, and Ren’s gums had to be bleeding because the more he ground his teeth together the more pain shot right through his skull. He let out his best cry to try and push it all out and was rather surprised when it more or less worked.

Getting an arm under himself to sit up was the hardest thing he ever had to do. The world returned to the nebulous, unseeing spin and Ren was going to throw up when those grounding hands left him. He was so dizzy and achy and nothing made sense and he whimpered when the hands returned, pressing on his shoulders and helping him up.

Trying to get his eyes to focus was the worst thing ever, and he was going to die for real this time. The hands grabbed at him again, pulling him onto his feet, and Ren stumbled blindly into whoever was helping him. They were small, or at least smaller than he was, all rough skin that didn’t smell quite right (even if it was familiar).

“How are you feeling?” they asked, all gravely and good for Ren’s aching head. He could only respond with a whine and collapse into the person in front of him, trusting them to take his weight even if they were smaller than him. “I have you. You’re okay Ren.”

The anger was slowly subsiding, mostly because Ren felt exhausted and energized all at the same time. He blinked his eyes open, forgetting when he had closed them, and gingerly pulled away from who had been holding him. Once he took his own weight, his crooked legs buckled underneath him and Ren collapsed to his knees with an agonized howl as the muscles there tried to reacquaint themselves with the new shape.

Hands cupped his face, no longer as cool, but just as grounding. Ren distantly realized the thumbs were brushing over his muzzle instead of his cheeks. “Don’t push yourself. You’re okay, man. Deep breaths.”

“ACTION AHEAD!”

The scream rang through the jungle and Ren’s ears pressed down at the piercing noise, the pitch just too high and… panicked. Ren blinked his eyes open and finally, _finally_ his head was clear enough to see the worried visage of Docm77. Oh, Docm77. Nice. Wait- Doc’s scent went sour with sweat, all worried and anxious and wrong. Not nice.

A long pause stood between Ren and Doc. The cyborg looked conflicted and worried and Ren made it his mission to stand again. Wavering on unsteady feet, Doc put a hand on Ren’s chest to hold him upwards and tried for a smile that didn’t look right.

“MUMBO! BDUBS! HELP! HEEELP!”

Doc smelled _worse_ now, upset the way he was. Ren’s ears pinned down at the change in his friend and the loud shouting and then it _snapped_ that Ren _knew_ that voice and the person screaming was his friend. The person screaming was his friend, and Ren had to find him, looking at Doc with crazed eyes as his tail began to wag and feet became unsteady and his ears twisted towards the screaming.

“Ren, Ren, _no_ ,” Doc said, catching on just as easily. The werewolf whined and backed away from Doc’s grounding hands, towards the exit, and Doc’s lip lifted in a snarl. “Damnit man, no! They’re fine, they’re going to be fine-”

“GRIAN!”

Ren knew _that_ person too, and the werewolf jumped the wall.

He could hear Doc cursing behind him, the loud clang from earlier, later accompanied by the gentle _tunk_ of something hard landing somewhere soft. Ren couldn’t care through, because he was running through the jungle as fast as his recently broken legs could carry him, nose held to the air as he scented for his friends. There was screaming and shouting and Ren was _not_ happy about it so Doc could yell at him all he wanted (along with the second voice, Scar, maybe?), Ren was going to find his friends and make sure they were okay and there was a vine wrapping around his paw-

There was a vine wrapping around his paw.

Ren snarled and bit through the green stem, spitting the chunk left in his mouth out and bounding down the path with a renewed vigor.

He could see it then, where the screaming and shouting was coming from. Bdubs was swinging an axe at an unfairly thick vine that was refusing to go down and was also curled around Mumbo. Said redstoner was smacking the vine with the business end of a torch, extinguishing the flame against the plant as his reached for another hanging from his belt which was being held in place by the vine.

Jumping at the scene with claws out, Ren shredded through the vine in seconds with the razors of bone and keratin gifted to him by the full moon in all of her awful glory. He snarled at the wall of vines surrounding his friends and snapped his jaw at any who got to close. Bdubs and Mumbo were talking and trying to talk to him but Ren was laser focused on their missing third and the vines still trying to attack them. The scrape of the axe and the thud of it hitting something reverberated behind him and the scrape of a torch on the ground and the crackle of fire was next.

Yelping as a vine curled around his neck and tried to drag him into the nearest tree line, Ren reached with his claws to free himself. Before he could, a flash of blue flickered before his eyes and the vine was pinned to the ground, wriggling between the prongs of a trident and weakened enough that Ren could free himself. He watched with a goofy grin, tongue lolling out of his mouth as Doc summoned the trident back to him with a heavy scowl. Ren didn’t pay much mind to the scowl, though, and instead watched Scar’s sluggish hands gripped the sword deliver the killing blow to the vine.

“C’mon man, we’re fighting for our lives here.” Doc sneered at the over-joyed werewolf, who, at command, went back to shredding any nearby vines with claws Doc _knew_ were sharp enough to scratch iron.

“We’re actually fighting for Grian’s life, aha!” Bdubs squealed from where he was hacking through a vine curling around his leg. “Don’t know where he is!”

“What is happening!?” Cried Mumbo, running the smoking end of his torch along any cut vines and pushing others that threatened to get too close with the same instrument.

“I think Grian was taken to the heart of the jungle!” Said Doc. He slung his trident over his back and took out an axe, slamming it into the ground at his feet where vines wiggled towards him. “We have to keep pressing forwards!”

“How!?” Complained Scar, yelping as he lobbed through a vine.

Just as the rest of the group was about to start panicking, Ren (who was twice his usual size and also much more canine) bound into the bush, crushing the underbrush beneath him and clawing through anything that dared to get in his way. His whines were high and scared so Doc looked at the other Hermits, shrugged, and ran after him. Ren was far ahead, meaning they had to sprint in an attempt to catch up with the giant wolf. Doc didn’t know if he should have been scared or relieved when they slowly caught up to Ren, only because he had stopped running and was barking at the trees in front of him.

The group screeched to a halt. There were no vines chasing them, but the bushes in front of them began to rustle as Ren’s barking devolved into a rumbling growl.

Hesitantly, those standing behind him raised their weapons, swords, torches, axes alike. They watched in fear as Ren pushed himself onto his hind legs and clawed his fingers to extenuate his moon-grown weapons.

Doc was going to throw up.

Why?

Ren was attacking Beef. And Beef was attacking Ren. And Beef was _alive_.

“REN!” Doc shouted, snarled more like it, an angry hiss erupting from a place Doc forgot as rage burned in his stomach where his fire was supposed to go. The werewolf turned to look with a whimper, ears pinned down, before a heartbreaking yelp shattered through the forest when a vine flicked around his neck _again_ and dragged him high into the air. The skeleton that was Beef held out his hand, the vine holding Ren extending from his wrist. Doc grit his teeth together and stormed forwards as a war started inside of him. “BEEF!”

“Oh, oh, Etho!” Bdubs cried, backing up as the husk of his friend began to storm towards him, sickly body covered in writhing vines. Not wanting to hurt his friend, Bdubs rather stupidly dropped his axe and held up his hands in a placating manner. Etho looked like death, pure death, jaw hanging open where his mask should have been. The scars that Doc had left of his face had erupted with moss, and the bags under his eyes were so dark against the pale green of his skin Bdubs was surprised Etho wasn’t just a skull. The redstoner lunged for Bdubs, feet gouging the earth, a cry stuck in Bdubs’ throat.

Scar hit Etho in the head with the but end of his axe and began chopping away at the vines holding him, Mumbo’s shaky hands coming to cauterize the ends of what was left.

Hollow eyes rolling into the back of his head, Etho collapsed into Bdubs’ chest. The builder choked on tears as he hugged his limp friend, heaving as Scar helped Bdubs hold his weight and get him to his feet.

Across the battered path, Ren had fallen onto the forest floor once Doc tore through the vine holding him in the air. Beef (or what Doc was going to consider Beef’s body, not his mind) lunged for Doc, hands reaching for his neck. The creeper was lucky he had been taught so well as he ducked out of the way and used the hilt of his sword to crack Beef’s shoulder, spinning on heel as he stood back up to cut through the vines.

Beef’s right arm went limp. When the vines reached for him once more, Ren howled and began biting them where they erupted from the bushes. Doc made quick work of the vines with his honed sword, growling as Beef began to fall towards the ground. The cyborg breathed a sigh of relief when Ren caught his friend, cradling him in furry arms that would have been hilarious in any other situation.

The creeper rushed forwards, cupping Beef’s lolling head. The man’s eyes were lidded, blinking further and further closed, taking slow, deep breaths. Doc swallowed hard and reached for Beef’s neck. The man made a rough grunting sound and his leg weakly lashed out, but where it connected with Doc’s shin didn’t even hurt and the creeper sighed. “Just me, Beef. It’s going to be okay.” He said, not sure if his friend could understand the English he had taught him. Doc felt Beef’s pulse, slow and lethargic. Doc looked up at Ren and the werewolf whined, tightening his grip around Beef’s torso. Doc brushed away crumbles of moss and tried to pick away a few of the leaves. “Oh, man.”

“Mumbo, you stupid- wait!” Bdubs shouted, and when Doc turned, he could already see Mumbo burning his way further towards the heart of the jungle.

“GRIAN!? GRIAAN!?” the redstoner shouted, his voice turning raw as he marched through the jungle.

“We have to go with him.” Said Doc, swallowing hard at the limp form of Etho in Bdubs’ arms, glancing back at where Beef was cradled against Ren’s chest. Doc felt something a lot like tears stinging at his eye, but he _refused_ to cry in front of the Hermits still with him. “We can carry Etho and Beef. We can’t leave Grian.”

God, what Doc would give for one of Ren’s upbeat one-liners. Instead, he got a high whine from his friend-turned wolf and a gulp from Bdubs who looked just as close to tears as Doc felt. Scar looked scared out of his mind but something there hardened as he turned to where Mumbo walked and began marching.

Everyone was given a torch. Ren walked on his hind legs, carrying Beef and Etho over his shoulders as gingerly as he could. The werewolf walked in the center of the group, Mumbo and Scar leading as Doc took up the rear. Everyone was scared out of their minds as more and more bush fell under their torch fire, waiting for another attack, waiting for something terrible to happen, but nothing came. It was utter, broken peace, and the crackling of the fire mixed with the rustle of the leaves under their feet was slowly driving the spooked Hermits insane.

Mumbo gasped. Doc summoned his trident into his hand with a _tunk._

“Blimey.” Mumbo murmured, pushing away a palm leaf with his torch to look ahead. “That doesn’t make me feel any better about our situation.”

There were standing before Doc’s stone skull.


	24. Chapter Nineteen

The creeper _did_ throw up this time, but the hiss he gave the group was a clear warning that if they told anyone what they had seen Doc would make them regret it.

“Do we just… go in?” Bdubs asked.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice, mate. This is as creepy and terrifying as it gets.” Said Mumbo.

“Does this look familiar Scar?” Asked Doc, tone soft (he later told them it was because of the acid burning his throat, _not_ his concern for Scar).

“I think so?” Scar asked, looking at the stone structure with delayed awe. “I remember being somewhere in really heavy shade but not, you know, a _skull_.”

“I can lead,” Offered Doc. His eyes swept over the group, silently reading their temps with his red eye. Everyone was scared. Dead scared. They were trying not to show it, but it was clear to everyone that this was very possibly the end of all things. What if they got Grian, but couldn’t get back to the infinity portal? What if Grian was gone? Now was not the time for Doc to let his own hesitance get to him, especially when he looked at what had become of his closest friends, his _pack_ where they were slung over Ren’s shoulders. “Yeah, okay. Get behind me guys, I’ll lead.”

Everyone wanted to protest, but no one else wanted to lead, so very carefully the group inched towards open maw of the skull. Doc shuddered as he ducked under a tooth he _remembered_ carving, moss infected as it may have been after a year of no upkeep in a cursed jungle.

The hall was empty and hollow. Their footsteps echoed and Doc quietly thanked his past self for making the skull a single room. However, in the center was a portal Doc _did not_ remember putting there. The End frame was laid into the floor, the cobble carved to fit around it perfectly. The eyes of ender glistened and the void in the center twisted and turned and begged the Hermits to come closer.

The stars that lured Doc in became harder to see as Mumbo struck up another torch, this one shining much brighter than the last he had mostly put out on the hide of the vines. The redstoner looked around, frowning at the moss laden walls and floors and swallowing the stone in his throat which in turn settled with heavy dread in his stomach. “Grian isn’t here.” Whispered the man.

A great rustling shook through the room. Without even thinking, Doc held his trident close and gathered the Hermits- his _pack_ in a defensive circle. His paws gripped the cobblestone lip over the frame of the portal and Doc tore his eyes away from the swaying stars to glare at the nasty, rippling shadows caused by Mumbo’s torch.

Nothing.

Nothing jumped out to grab them. Not even a vine. It was silent for a moment, and the rustling began once more. Luckily, this time the Hermits were smart enough to look _up._

There was a cocoon of vines dangling from the ceiling above. It wriggled and writhed and hung above five or ten feet above everyone’s heads. If group stayed really quiet, all holding their breaths, they could hear the rustling again. Whatever the vines were hanging from had to be leafy, and whatever was inside was trying to escape with near silent “MmMr- mmrph-mmMMr.”

“You don’t think…” Gulped Scar.

“Shh,” Warned Mumbo.

Ren whimpered; ears pressed flat to his skull as he sniffed the air. Doc watched as his eyes narrowed and a growl began to rumble through the room. That is also when Doc noticed that the light in the room was much more orange than it was a few seconds before, and a gate of thick vines was forming over the only exit. The only exit minus the portal, of course.

Something shot through Doc as he watched their escape crumble. He swallowed hard, something cool trickling through him as he made up his mind. Doc refused to lose anyone else.

“Everyone through the portal.” Doc demanded, taking Mumbo’s torch. “Go. _Go._ ”

“What?” Bdubs squawked. “Uh, no way mister, not in a thousand years- I am not leaving you in this jungle again, so siree-”

Doc dropped his trident and his torch, the rustling above them getting louder, the hiss of slinking vines shaking him to his very core. “They won’t come after me. I’ll be fine.” The creeper promised, lifting Bdubs off his feet in a tight hug. The builder expected to be put down on solid ground after he returned his best rib-crushing hug, not thrown into the portal with an angry shout.

“Doc, dude!” Mumbo shrieked, and when Doc bared his teeth and his claws and hissed the best he could, Mumbo got a flash of Iskall’s face when Doc was first created and took an instinctive step back. Into the portal, of course.

Doc turned to Ren, the werewolf’s cries high and pained as he looked down at Doc, still cradling to the two limp members of the NHO. “I’m right behind you dude,” Doc promised, feeling his chest constrict in ways he thought you needed a heart to do. He bent down to scoop up the torch and his trident, side stepping around Ren to wave the flames at the slowly approaching vines. The green tendrils shrunk back for only a moment, but Doc knew he couldn’t hold them off forever as he looked back at Ren and the finalizing members of the NHO. “Get out of here, stupid mutt.”

The whines continued. Doc stood straight and looked Ren in the eyes. “You’re my pack, man. Gotta protect the pack.” Ren crouched to barrel his fluffy head into Doc’s chest, nearly knocking the creeper back into the vines. Doc reached up to scratch one of Ren’s ears and got a face full of slobber before the werewolf pulled away and adjusted his grip on the two men on his shoulders. Before Doc could smile or thank him or say goodbye, the Ren turned on heel and leapt into the End portal.

“Oh, Grian is _so_ going to owe me.” Doc hissed, jamming the business end of his torch into the nearest vine trying to curl around his ankle and aiming his trusty trident for the darkness above Grian’s cocoon. Best case scenario, he caught Grian. Worst case scenario, he killed Grian with his trident, got swallowed by the jungle, and he and Grian would be stuck there forever. Weighing the pros and cons and the vines snaking up his back, Doc flung his trident at full strength.

A loud, snapping sound shook through the room. The bundle that _had_ to be Grian stopped shaking for only a second and when it did, it began to fall. Doc shook off the vine around his leg and timed his jump freaking perfectly, tackling the mound of vines into the portal at the perfect height. The deathly magic swirled around him and swallowed them both, spitting them out into the cold, thin air of the End with dual gasps and shouts.

Doc and his parcel were caught in big, furry arms. They had spawned over a secondary portal and Bdubs looked very, very pale where Mumbo and Scar were trying to console him a chunk or two away. Etho and Beef were still passed out next to him, but Doc’s heart seized at the sight of tears in Bdubs’ eyes.

The End was empty but them and the portal back to the Overworld moaning before them. No end islands were in sight, no endermen, no dragon, no giant obsidian pillars. Just the Hermits, curled up against the cold.

There was a pitiful groan in his lap and Doc peeked at Ren as the werewolf set him and the wriggling pile of Grian down. Doc distantly realized he left his dearest trident in that damn jungle before he flicked out his claws and began shredding the vines around Grian. Once his claws had gotten through the worst of it, Grian took care of the rest and scrambled away, panting hard with a feral look in his eyes. It was all too familiar to Doc, raising his hands and sheathing his claws.

“Grian, Grian, you’re okay. You’re okay.” Doc said, voice low and quiet.

Said man screeched when an over excitable Renwolf tackled him, licking his face and whining happily as his tail wagged. Once Grian realized what was happening his sighed, but when Ren wouldn’t relent the sigh turned into giggles and laughs and Grian complaining that Ren was crushing him. Doc would have cared more, would have teased them a bit more, if Bdubs didn’t have tears rolling down his face.

He was wedged between Scar and Mumbo, hiding his tears behind his hands and doing a poor job of muffling his sobs. Doc watched as Bdubs shuffled closer to where Etho and Beef were, worrying over the still forms of his friends. It hurt Doc to see the NHO so quiet and broken and not themselves. He promised himself it would be better in a few hours, they would be home, and his friends would be okay, and this nightmare would be over.

Doc walked over and sat next to Bdubs calmly when Scar moved out of the way. Etho and Beef were laying next to each other in front of them. Doc could feel himself slowing down, exhausted by the fight and the cold, but Bdubs was a furnace and Doc pressed closer than he would normally allow in the presence of anyone but the NHO. Mumbo frowned at the two awake members of the NHO and blanched when Doc started _purring._

“Bdubs.” The creeper quietly said.

Bdubs’ crying broke with a soft laugh. “Doc.”

“You’re okay.” Doc promised, resting his head on Bdubs’ shoulder. Mumbo gave him a look and Doc nodded carefully, so Mumbo walked over to where Scar was peeling Ren off of Grian so the redstoner could give his friend a hug. Doc wrapped his arm tight around Bdubs. “We’re back, baby.”

Giggling despite himself, Bdubs shook his head. “Stupid.”

“What’s wrong, man?”

“I know this place.” Bdubs choked on a sob and looked around. “I must have- I think I- I think that portal is what made me keep falling.”

“You’re okay,” Doc frowned, gathering Bdubs up and giving him a squeeze. “we’ll find a way home without that.”

“We found them,” Gasped Bdubs, looking over Doc’s shoulder.

The creeper smiled and pressed his face into his friend’s shoulder. He smelled like jungle and the NHO. “Yeah we did.”

“And they’re okay.”

“Mostly.”

“I missed you, Doc.”

“Yeah,” The creeper whispered, tightening his grip until he heard Bdubs’ back crack. “I missed you too, Bdubs.”

A high yelp pierced through the air and cut through their bonding moment. Ren laid on his side near the portal, twitching and whimpering as his eyes rolled back into his head. “Ren?” Grian gasped, rolling onto his knees and shaking the werewolf’s shoulders. “Ren, Ren, are you okay? Can you hear me?” He asked, but the werewolf only cried louder.

“Gently,” Doc warned, rolling onto his knees and quickly crawling over as he spoke in a low voice. “There’s no moon in the End. Ren is just turning back, he’s okay, but loud noises and lots of movement can really hurt him.”

“Oh,” Grian said quietly. Doc knelt next to Ren and put his hand on his shoulder, sighing when Ren flinched before settling into his touch. Following the metal of Doc’s hand up to his body, Grian made a painful realization. “You’re going grey.”

“Wilting.” Doc shrugged. “I usually have more armor on when I’m in the End. It’s too cold for me here. I should be fine for a few more hours.”

“Wilting?” Mumbo said.

“You never told me you can _wilt._ ” Guffawed Scar. “What are you, lush grass?”

Ren’s lip lifted with a snarl and he keened, curling in on himself and digging his claws into his arms. Doc quickly got Scar and Mumbo to hold him down, stop him from hurting himself, trying to console Ren as the werewolf whimpered and barked and whined high in the air. Grian stood from the painful scene and took a few careful steps back.

“There’s no way out of this world without the infinity portal, which we can’t access.” Grian frowned. Bdubs was trying to wake up Etho. Ren was whimpering like he might die. Scar and Doc were holding Ren down after he clawed through Mumbo’s arm. The redstoner met Grian’s eyes and swallowed hard.

“Looks like it.”

“Oh no.” Grian whined, looking at his useless hands.

“Gri,” Mumbo said, clutching his arm as blood began to steadily bead. “We’re kind of out of options.”

“I’ve never made a world-jumper before.” Grian gasped. “The- The Watchers always did it- Mumbo they’ll _see_ , I- I _can’t-_ ”

“Beef buddy? You there? I mean- I know you’re in there but- c’mon, stupid. Wake up for me?” Grian looked over to where Bdubs was knelt next to Beef and Etho. Bdubs stopped worrying over Beef for a second to pull the tattered scarf hanging around Etho’s neck over some nasty looking scars on his face. “Shame, Etho. Shame. Look at you, man. Aw, Etho, wake up. Please? For me? Your old pal?”

“Ren, Ren, you’re okay. It’s okay, Ren. You’re with your pack.” Doc said, his stoic, calm voice steadily rising as Ren began to howl into the empty void of the End and Grian was brought back to the gory scene in front of him. “Rendog, listen to me! You’re okay. Stop, you’re hurting yourself more. You can do this Ren, just breathe, just breathe.”

Grian shut his eyes. He focused, and he focused hard, eyes squeezed shut as he took deep breaths and searched for the familiar jolt of admin magic. It felt like his fingers were on fire and lines of code appeared in Grian’s consciousness. Trying not to startle and lose his focus, Grian took deep breaths and tried to read the code the way he used to. Luckily for him, the code was corrupted, because _of course the code HAD to be corrupted._

Then, Grian held an illegal block in his hands. A command block. Grian was holding a command block.

He blinked. He could feel something rustle against his back and half expected to see wings before Grian placed the command block and got to work, praying the other Hermits were too absorbed by Ren (who’s yelps had turned into screams) and the passed out members of the NHO (who still hadn’t moved an inch).

Out of his depth, Grian began jamming the command block with whatever commands he could remember. Nothing was happening, nothing, nothing, nothing, and Grian could smell fire as the command block began to break under his hands from so many errors. In a last ditch effort, Grian typed in Xisuma’s name _hoping_ to contact the admin, or maybe teleport to him, or something that could get them out of this _stupid_ End dimension with it’s broken code and dangerous forest and wounded friends and-

_“Oh, poor little Trickster is lost, isn’t he?”_

Grian jumped out of his skin as the godly voice echoed through his head, looking around with wild eyes and his tongue caught between his teeth.

“Woah.” Scar murmured, looking at the frankly giant Nether portal standing in front of them. Around it, was a strange bedrock symbol that was far too familiar.

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Doc said, heaving Ren over his shoulder. The man had lost most of his canine features by now, but his claws scrabbled at Doc’s metal arm pitifully as the last painful aftershocks jolted through him. Mumbo, who’s arm had been bandaged with a piece of his pant leg, helped Bdubs get Etho and Beef to their feet and drag them towards the portal with Scar. Grian stood, shaken with wide eyes, as his friends began sorting themselves to go through the portal.

“Where did this come from?”

“Where will it take us?”

“We don’t have any other options.”

“You okay, Gri?” Scar asked.

_You should tell someone._

Grian flashed Scar a smile. “Yeah, uh, let’s go home dude.”


	25. Chapter Twenty

When they stumbled out of the portal, it was no surprise to them they were in Area 77. The surprise was that Xisuma was right there they left him, Jellie in his lap, the tired Admin taking comfort in her purrs and ridiculously soft fur. Foxes were cuddled up at his sides, foxes he had known Doc to call ‘danger foxes’ but they really seemed like the most peaceful things in Area 77.

Of course, Xisuma’s moment of reprieve was broken when his Hermits came stumbling out of a portal with two who was no longer missing and one who was getting over a serious case of moon sickness.

“Have you been sitting here the whole time?” Scar asked, Etho’s arm held tight around his neck as the man swayed back and forth in his grip.

“You just left!” Squawked Xisuma, leaping to his feet to give his aid.

The next hour was a flurry of movement. Xisuma rushed to make a sick bay in his very pointy ocean base, but Grian opened up the hippie commune once more. Yet, the hippies were thanked for their kindness, and Etho and Beef were tucked away in a darkened room of Xisuma’s base under the strict care of the Admin.

To say Doc was furious was an understatement.

“Be with Ren.” The Admin had said. “He is still recovering from the moon sickness. I will bring you to them when they are better, I promise you my friend.”

Doc was seething. A constant hiss passed through his teeth like a broken pipe. “ _I_ found them, _I_ risked _my_ life to get them out of that jungle after you spent a year _telling me they were dead!_ ”

“I know,” Xisuma said, and it looked like it hurt him. “let me make it right by healing them. It won’t be an easy process.”

The creeper’s hiss only got louder. Over the year Bdubs had spent with Doc, he had come to be able to tell the hisses apart. There was happy, sad, scared, angry, and I’m-About-To-Blow-You-Up. Doc was at I’m-About-To-Blow-You-Up. They were lucky he couldn’t blow up anymore, but he could definitely hurt someone more ways then one with the metal arm and an affinity for PVP.

“Doc,” Bdubs had said, grabbing the creeper’s metal wrist. “Come on, dummy. We can come back later. We really should check on Ren.”

The creeper wouldn’t leave without a final threat, turning the hiss on his tongue loud and sharp and angry. He and Bdubs flicked open their elytra and flew over Area 77 like it wasn’t even there, drifting into the hippie commune on not-so-steady wings. He hit the ground hard, and he meant to, letting the people around the campfire flinch when his boots hit the ground. Doc was so angry. He could feel rage boiling inside of him- threatening to boil over- burn through his skin and make him implode and-

“Heyy, man,” Ren sighed next to the fire, glassy eyes trained on the sky. He was still, quivering, body ruined by the aches transformation left in him. Doc knew this too well, and he felt his anger dissipate. Even if he hated to admit it, there was nothing he could go for Etho and Beef. But for Ren? Doc could be there for Ren.

“Hey, you stinking hippie.” Doc sighed, unclipping the harness of his elytra. He threw it towards Ren’s RV and collapsed next to him in the grass, twinging when his side did. “Hungry?”

“Hypocrite.” Said Mumbo quietly.

“He won’t eat.” Grian pouted from the log across the fire.

“Stomach hurts.” Ren complained.

“Yeah, I’m sure everything hurts.” Doc said, reaching over and laying the back of his metal palm on Ren’s forehead. The man closed his eyes and smiled, his left leg kicking in the grass. “You should eat something, Ren.”

“Ugh.”

“I’ll go get some beets.” Impulse chuckled, standing from his post next to Grian and walking towards the garden.

“Did you mean it dude?” Ren asked, eyes still closed. “When you said I was pack?”

Doc laughed under his breath and felt what had to be what people with blood described as blush. It was weird. He hated it. “Yeah man. Of course I did.”

“Awesome.”

“Are you okay, Ren?” Bdubs asked, taking Impulse’s place on the log next to Grian. Scar sat on the builder’s other side, closing his hands and opening them, closing his hands and opening them. He was silent, which was weird, but Grian was also being pretty quiet, so maybe it was going to be a quiet evening for everyone. Mumbo was always sort of quiet compared to the others among them, so him sitting on the log next to Grian and Scar’s silently didn’t ruffle any feathers.

“Cramped up, dude.” Ren sighed. “Bones don’t know where to go.”

“Blegh.” Grian said.

“Ouch.” Scar winced.

“He’s fine,” Doc chuckled. “Just needs some rest. He’ll be fine come morning.”

“I don’t need rest,” Ren complained.

“Shut up, mutt.”

“Robot.”

“This should be enough!” Impulse said, walking over with an armful of cleaned beetroots. “Cleaned in the fresh water stream and grown by none other than Rendog!”

“I’ll get you a pail of water.” Scar said as he got to his feet.

Grian followed his lead and walked towards Impulse’s RV. “Let me grab the cauldron.”

“Anything I can help with dude?” Mumbo asked, already trailing behind Grian to offer whatever assistance he needed. “This place looks really cool, by the way. I should visit your projects more often.

Following Grian towards the RV with a laugh, Impulse let them inside while he searched for a knife and bragged about the greatness of the hippie commune.

“Hey,” Ren hummed, his head to look at Doc. The creeper had since sat up, but he turned to smile at Ren over his shoulder. For a moment Ren stretched, arching his back and pointing his toes and wincing as all the stiff muscles cramped, but he settled back down with a pleased sigh. “I’m glad you found your pack, my dude.”

“Yeah,” Doc chuckled. “me too, man. I’m really lucky you decided to follow me around enough I just had to start liking you.”

“No, I meant-”

“I know what you meant.” Doc said. “I know what I said.”

“Oh, shut up, you big lug.” Ren laughed, throwing an arm over his eyes.

Across the empty firepit, Bdubs smiled. He had been so worried for so long that when the NHO had disappeared, Doc had been alone. I mean, the man sure acted like it, snapping at anyone and everyone and brooding wherever he went. He liked to pretend that the world was out to get him and Bdubs was really happy that Doc hadn’t been like that the entire time he was gone. It was good to see the creeper acclimating with the Hermits even if Bdubs had missed the most of it. It was good to know that Doc was loved and cared for when the NHO weren’t there to do it. It was a good feeling that their stupid science experiment really had grown up without them.

It was hard not to miss the days in the jungle. Bdubs watched fondly as the others returned, Impulse, Mumbo, and Grian bickering about something redstone related and Scar’s happy bounce in his step spilling most of the contents of his buckets. Doc and Ren were laughing with each other and Grian had knelt to start the fire. If Bdubs paid attention, which he wasn’t, he would have seen the blackened ends of the builder’s fingers that certainly wasn’t there before. Instead Bdubs was watching the campsite come alive, reminded of nights on the beach, reminded of when long days slowed down into quiet nights and the moon begged him to sleep.

There was an itch under his skin to fly to Xisuma’s base, find Etho and Beef and wrap them up and call them stupid and never let them leave his sight again. Bdubs was beginning to understand what Doc must have been feeling for weeks. There was an itch for the old days, but the laughter beginning around the firepit as the sun dipped towards the horizon was a balm that soothed any aches.

The builder giggled at something Mumbo had said without even realizing. He had missed the Hermits in the nebulous time he was missing, let alone how long the NHO had cooped themselves up in the jungle, only letting a choice few in. It was good to be around them again.

“Can you believe it?” Mumbo gawked, and Grian snickered.

“Took them hours. My best prank yet, I think.” He said proudly.

“ _This_ is why you can’t have a time machine.” Doc said, but there was no malice behind it. In fact, the campsite erupted with laughter at the expense of Grian’s flushed face.

“Ach, Area 77 is over now, anyways.” Scar said, giving Doc look as if asking for him to challenge it. Somehow, the look was still warm and full of concern. The creeper adverted his gaze and Scar smiled. “We should open it up as like- an amusement park.”

“Oh, I’d give all my diamonds for that,” Impulse promised.

“It’s a deal.” Doc grinned.

“Oh, oh, do I get my nuclear reactor back?” Ren pleaded. “Renbob really needs it.”

Bdubs had missed a lot. He had a lot of catching up to do and he was so, so excited to learn about everything that had changed. He wanted to get to know Grian better. To try some new building techniques with all the new resources with Keralis. The itch was gone now, replaced with a warm bowl of soup and a wave of exhaustion.

Everyone ate happily, the conversation far and few in-between as the adventurers got some rest around the warm food and crackling fire. It was quiet and it was good. The moon was beginning to rise when Bdubs put his bowl in the grass, stretched his arms above his head, and yawned. “I gotta go to sleep.”

“The moon’s only just rising!” Impulse laughed.

“Let him be.” Doc smirked, and there was a fondness there that send a pang through Bdubs’ exhausted body.

“You can sleep in my RV, my dude.” Ren offered. “I think we’ll be out here talking for a bit longer.”

“You sure?” Bdubs asked.

“Yeah,” Ren said, smiling big and happy. It had to be a trick of the moonlight, but Bdubs caught a glimpse of too-sharp canines. “Gotta protect the pack.”

Bdubs went to bed in Ren’s RV. The talk was nice and it was quiet and it was good to catch up with each other. Grian was talking about his experiments with redstone- and Mumbo was talking about how scared he was of it. There was mention of Sahara and of course Scar got roped in with ConCorp and the ConVex and then it clicked for Ren just _what_ weird crossbow had been used to knock him out. Impulse mentioned disappearing for a week or so to go get Tango from the Nether he had disappeared into a few months before. He explained the group had only been gone a few short minutes after they walked through the portal. They told him they had been in the jungle for days.

Everyone called it a night after that.

Impulse peeled off into his RV first, claiming he needed the energy for the Nether. Doc and Ren went to Ren’s RV next once the exhaustion Ren had been staving off made itself known. Mumbo flew home with Scar on his heels.

Grian sat in front of the fire, rubbing the tips of his fingers. They were black and speckled with stars. Whenever he looked at his hands, Grian felt like he was going to throw up.

There was an extra bucket of water from making the stew. It was dumped over the fire and the it went out with a hiss, blue smoke stretching towards the sky as the world was shrouded in darkness. In the distance, Grian could hear the zombies and the skeletons and the spiders and the creepers. Looking at the open night sky, the thousands of stars, the endless void above him, Grian felt like he was being suffocated by the darkness.

He climbed into his RV, toed his way out of his shoes, and curled up in bed. Grian shut his eyes tight against the darkness, bundling himself up in every blanket he could, and tried to relax. He tucked his hands to his chest and prayed that if he didn’t pay attention to them, the void infecting his skin would go away.

_Grian was standing before a bookshelf. He knew where he was. Did he? Yeah, he’d been there before. He knew what this was. There was a black ball on a pedestal sitting on the bookshelf. Grian saw his hand reach out, he saw himself hesitate, but he cupped the strange piece of stone (?) and held it close to his chest._

_The blackness of the orb opened up. Grian saw Taurtis. His own laugh startled him, and Grian felt his eyes sting. Taurtis was messing around with Netty in her treehouse in Evo and while Grian couldn’t hear them, seeing them was good. They looked happy and Grian didn’t know if that made him happy or sad. When Grian ran his thumb over the image and it rippled under his touch, his heart twisted._

_“Oh, Trickster.” Grian stiffened at the all too-familiar voice echoing behind him. “You are so obsessed with mortal life. You are beyond that now. You are beyond that now. Those little mortals pale in comparison to your potential. If you cannot let go of your mortal life, we will take it upon ourselves to cut your ties.”_

_Grian spun around with a growl, clutching the orb close to his chest. “You promised to leave Evo alone.”_

_“Only if you behaved, dearest Trickster.” Said the Voidkind standing behind him._

_“You’re sick.”_

_“You ran again. And again. And again. Your precious Hermits are not safe.”_

_The mortal in the room felt himself stagger. This wasn’t a normal dream. This wasn’t a normal dream. His heart was pounding against his ribcage and Grian was going to be sick._

_“You are all victims to the mortal cradle. Let us help you dearest Trickster.”_

Grian woke up with a gasp. He clutched the orb tight to his chest and curled up in a tight ball and once the initial panic had faded, the builder realized in delayed horror that he wasn’t holding the sight crystal he knew from his time in the Deep End.

He was holding a book.

 _Demise_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end ;)  
> Thank you to everyone for reading, commenting, and sending kudos. Be safe out there, and wear a mask!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Learning Redstone.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24532888) by [mochii112](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochii112/pseuds/mochii112)




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